Innocence Redone
by ThexWhitexPhoenix
Summary: "Has he reached the 100th mark yet?" Jozu asked and Mirim grinned at him. "Probably passed it a long time ago." How did this end up with Ace kneeling on an execution platform in Marineford with that very same girl and her family trying to save him? How did it end up with him wanting to live?
1. Chapter 1

I decided to rewrite Innocence purely because it's been four years since I started writing it and I want to see if I've improved. I read through it the other day and found myself crying over a shitload of mistakes I'm not going to mention here. And I also gained a lot of positive response and negative response about Mirim so I'm going to try to rewrite this story, and make it better, fuller, because let's face it, there's a lot of holes in the story in there. And as a side-note, I'm not trying to get more reviews on this rewritten version than the original. I guess that most of those who read the original won't bother reading this new version, even though there are some changes done to the story. I'm doing this purely to see if I have evolved at all as a writer. Perhaps I have, perhaps I haven't. I may even write a few extra chapters but it's only a maybe.

I also wish to alert those that read the original that there's a link on my profile to a drawing of Mirim a friend of mine did and that soon I'll post a link to the new one she's working on which is a huge improvement to the one she did during high school.

Wish me luck!

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

It was a sunny day in Alabasta, and the inhabitants went about their daily business as usual without any incident. Well, for the most part. There was one restaurant people were gathering outside of and it was not because they liked the food there. No, there was something far more serious than that.

A person had just died.

"What's going on?" A man who had wandered by and turned curious asked. "There's someone who died in there!" The man who answered him stared with frightened eyes before yells and screams could be heard from inside. A young girl pushed her way through the crowd, throwing polite apologies over her shoulder, and entered the restaurant despite the hushed protests of those outside.

"_YOU FELL ASLEEP?"_ The mass of people realized that no one had actually died, that it had only been a misunderstanding and muttered in annoyance as they left the restaurant. What a waste of time.

While inside the man who had been thought dead was annoyed by all the screaming.

"Do you hire comedians or something?" Ace asked the owner as he continued to eat his dinner as if nothing had happened at all. He was so used to his narcolepsy attacks by now that he really didn't understand why others reacted to them so violently. It was no big deal, he just fell asleep at the most random of moments. Except for the surprise of someone suddenly falling asleep during a conversation or meal there was nothing to get anxious about.

"Uh no, but if you're okay then everything is alright." The owner was tired and this little incident did nothing to relieve him of any stress he had accumulated during this month but just as Ace went for another bite he fell asleep again. The owner twitched before he snapped.

"_DON'T GO FALLING ASLEEP AGAIN!_" The owner yelled angrily but before more was said the girl who just entered the restaurant sat down beside the sleeping pirate and the man on his back.

"Oy, Commander, wake up!" Ace instantly woke up and began choking on his food. He hurriedly grabbed a glass of water and chugged its contents down to ease the burden in his throat while she gently hit his back this time to help him. "We really need to cure that narcolepsy of yours." She chuckled.

"It doesn't bother me, Mirim." Ace answered the girl but she pointed her thumb at the owner and the guests who were all panting heavily in anger. "But you scared the shit out of these guys." It was easy to see that she found the situation hilarious as she grinned gleefully.

"Oh." Ace said though it didn't seem like he really cared much. "Anyway old man, have you seen this guy?" He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a wanted poster of Monkey D. Luffy. The owner stared for a few moments before shaking his head. No one like that had passed by his restaurant and he had not heard of anyone witnessing this person ever having passed through their little town.

"I guess you don't have a problem with eating in full public. Now, what does the Commander and Lieutenant of the Whitebeard Pirate crew Second Division want in this country?" A rough voice asked and Mirim glanced over her shoulder with a small smirk before turning around. How unexpected, she thought. Perhaps things would liven up a bit.

"Well, Portgas D. Ace, Mirim?"The marine addressing them still wondered why the Navy had no last name to give the girl in front of him but right at that moment it was unimportant. Immediately the guests pressed themselves against the walls, as far away from the two pirates as possible. There was not a single soul who had not heard about Edward Newgate, or rather Whitebeard as he was known as by most, and there were few who did not fear the man.

"Whitebeard? They are Whitebeard Pirates?"

"I knew I had seen the mark on his back before! Why are they here?"

"Congratulations _Captain_ Smoker, you just managed to throw the whole place into chaos." Mirim giggled and Ace slowly turned around with a smirk of his own, Mirim resting her elbow on his shoulder. They were the picture of calmness and it aggravated Smoker. He did not take a liking to being written off as a pushover even if the two in front of him were seasoned pirates and not some overconfident rookies. Though he was outnumbered he was not one to be underestimated. "I'm on a search, for my little brother." The people in the restaurant began whispering to each other as the pirates smirked at the glaring marine. Suddenly Mirim looked up and away with a look of faint concentration on her face.

"Commander… did you hear that?" She asked Ace who did not look away from the marine. The man raised an eyebrow and she frowned. Apparently not.

"Never mind. I thought I heard someone yell…."

"I've heard of that marine Smoker!" One of the guests whispered terrified. Apparently the marines did not all have a good reputation, despite the fact that Smoker was known to uphold peace. It was just that he was ruthless when it concerned pirates and that did not make him any less frightening to the civilians.

"So…" Ace drawled. "What should we do?" The question was directed towards his companion but it was Smoker who answered. "Sit tight and let me arrest you."

"Rejected." Ace shrugged lazily, still with that confident smirk on his face. "Sorry, I think we'll pass on that."

"… I'm looking for a different pirate. I'm not interested in you." Smoker growled at them. "Then let us go, if we are so uninteresting." Smoker seethed in anger at Mirim's suggestion and spread his feet to stand ready to attack or defend.

"I can't do that, as long as you are pirates and I'm a marine!" Ace smirked and rolled his shoulders.

"That's not much of a reason now is it? How about I give you one?" It all happened so fast that no one could react properly. Something, or someone, crashed into Smoker from behind with such speed and power that he was sent flying forward and in his way Ace sat. Everything was as if in slow-motion. Smoker was coming closer to Ace whose expression turned from confident to disbelieving, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. Mirim instinctively reeled back and looked on in shock as Smoker crashed into Ace and together they were both sent crashing through several walls.

"Woooohooo! A restaurant! I'm starving!" A boy with a straw hat yelled. The people in the restaurant stared at the boy with wide eyes and some looked on the verge of crying in fear. The owner really wanted to cry, since there was a huge hole in his wall. He could feel all the stress accumulate in him at the thought of working overtime so he could cover the expenses that were needed to repair the wall. The customers did what they felt to be right. They fled the establishment.

"Hurry mister!" Luffy was quite energetic for being half-starved. "Food, food, food!"

"Yeah, but… you should probably run away kid." The owner said as he put plates filled with food in front of the boy, glancing at Mirim. He thought she would react in anger, having her comrade blown through the wall but her expression went from shocked to amused. It actually looked like she was on the verge of bursting into laughter.

"Thanks old man! You're a lifesaver!" Luffy exclaimed and dug into his food, ignoring the warning, just as a burst of laughter erupted beside him. He turned his head slightly, and looked past the partly destroyed counter and laid eyes on Mirim. He couldn't recognize her from anywhere but then again, he didn't read the news either. That was Nami's forte.

Her hair was a dark shade green and wavy, put up in a high ponytail with a few stray strands of hair framing her face. Her eyes were big and amber, her face heart shaped, her skin lightly tanned and she was no taller than at least 5'7". She wore a dancer outfit similar to Nami's though her top was red and there was no design of bubbles on it but rather golden bended strings. Around her neck there was a gold and silver choker, and around her left wrist she had one golden bracelet. On her right wrist there was two and high up on her arm there was a bandage.

During his examination Mirim had managed to calm herself. She was no longer laughing loudly but rather just chuckling to herself.

"Ah, I haven't had a laugh like that in a while. Tell me kid, do you know who you just sent flying through all those walls?" She had recognized the boy the moment she had gotten a good look at his face and therefore she didn't feel the need to beat him up for sending her Commander crashing through the walls. Luffy leaned over and looked at all the holes that he had created by crashing into Smoker. He shook his head and looked at her questionably.

"Well, if they had been normal humans they would have died but-" She was rudely interrupted by said individuals as they reached the restaurant.

"Hey, Luffy-"

"_STRAW HAT!_" Luffy, now known as Straw Hat, turned back to stare at Smoker who stared at the boy, furious being a mild word to describe his anger as the boy continued eating while trying to remember where he had seen the man before. A few minutes passed by as he continued to munch on his food before he spit half of it out in Smoker's face. Mirim fell onto the counter, hiding her face and banging her fist on the it as she trembled with contained laughter. This kid was hilarious!

"Oh god!"

"Thanks for the food!" Luffy yelled and grabbed it all, shoved it into his mouth and ran off with Smoker hot on his trail. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my fucking god!" Mirim gasped out as she began to recover from her laughter.

"Crap! Come on!" Ace hurried up from the ground and ran after the pirate and marine. "Oi, Luffy! It's me!" He yelled with Mirim stumbling after him as she failed to contain a new burst of laughter.

"…. They didn't pay…" The owner was confused and wondered if he should follow or just sit safely in his half-demolished restaurant. He decided on the latter.

**Innocence**

"_TASHIGI!"_ Said person turned to Smoker and began rambling about how hot this country was until Smoker told her to shut up and stop Straw Hat Luffy but said boy managed to dodge her attack and jumped onto the roof tops with Smoker still following him. He would not let his prey get away that easily. He may have managed to escape from him in Loguetown, but he would not get away this time.

"Where the hell did the party go?" Ace looked around frantically before Mirim grabbed his shoulder and pointed towards a gang that ran with Smoker and a troop of marines following them. "Let's go crash the party, eh?"

**Innocence**

"He's going to catch me!" Luffy yelled as he ran as fast as he could but there was no use. The smoke was catching up and it was catching up quickly. There was no way he would be able to outrun it.

"_Kagerou!_" Someone yelled and great streaks of fire appeared out of nowhere and hit Smoker's attack. Swirls of fire blocked the marines from advancing any further towards the Straw Hat Pirates and the flames slowly dwindled to reveal a person who had his hand stretched out while being on fire himself.

"Cut it out. You may be 'smoke' but I am 'fire'. Your powers don't stand a chance against me." Ace explained calmly. "Who's that?" A marine demanded though it was clear who it was.

"Ace!" Luffy called confused. Smirking slightly, Ace turned around. "You never change Luffy. You never change." He replied.

* * *

Kagerou – Heat Haze


	2. Chapter 2

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

"Pops! Pops!" Whitebeard emerged from the captain's quarters and walked briskly out on deck where he saw his crew crowding around something. As soon as they saw their captain the opened a path for him to see a fifteen year old Marco holding a green haired woman with Jozu kneeling behind her. The woman held a great scythe in her right hand but cradled a bundle to herself with her left. The old captain noticed that her stomach, which had been growing the last time she visited several months ago, was gone.

"Maya!" The captain exclaimed. "What's going on?" The woman, Maya, opened her golden eyes.

"Whitebeard." She smiled tiredly, her eyes betraying her exhaustion and pain. Said man was shocked. What could have reduced this woman, who he knew to be strong and full of pride, to this?

"I thought you were to give birth one day soon?" He boomed, somehow admitting that he had been counting the months since her last visit, and she nodded slowly, gazing at the bundle in her arm with half-lidded eyes. "I did. Isn't she beautiful?" She moved her arm a little, showing Marco, Jozu and Whitebeard, who was now kneeling beside her as well, the child inside the bundle. A healthy looking little girl with eyes slightly darker than her mother's and with a lock of dark green hair on top of her head giggled and reached for his mustache. She squealed happily as she instead caught her mother's hair.

"Take them to my quarters! And you, Thatch, call on Doc!" He ordered Marco and Jozu. Jozu picked up Maya and her scythe while Marco gently took the child out of her arms, much to her protest, but she was too tired to cause much of a fight. She knew they would never hurt her child anyway.

Doc, the doctor in the crew, examined Maya and the child thoroughly before leaving the room to give her some privacy with the child and stopped outside the door, where Whitebeard, Marco and Jozu waited for him. They hoped for good news, but the doctor's face was grim causing them to fear the worst.

"The baby is fine, but Maya's lost too much blood. She won't make it. She's got a few hours at most, maybe not even that." He shook his head sadly and walked away. Whitebeard entered alone, his crewmates finding it better to stay behind, and found Maya lying in the bed on her side, stroking the child's head gently. She noticed the man and beckoned him over.

"Whitebeard, can you take care of her… and raise her for me?"

"What are you talking about? Do it yourself." The captain said gruffly and the woman chuckled. "I'm not stupid Edward. I know I won't make it" She coughed as Whitebeard grabbed a chair and sat down beside the bed.

"What exactly happened Maya?" She turned on her back and stared at the ceiling. "The marines found me as I finished giving birth. My brother and his wife tried to protect me but they were both killed. I didn't want my daughter to die as well, so I escaped but… the bleeding wouldn't stop." She trembled but whether it was from pain or grief he didn't know.

'_Probably both.'_ Whitebeard thought.

"I'll leave her in your care." The pirate captain hesitated before asking the name of the newborn. "I and Kouji thought that if it was a boy… we would name him Miroku…. If it was a girl…. It would be Mirim…" She took a deep breath. Her voice grew weaker and quieter as she spoke. Her time was almost up. He opened his mouth to tell her to rest but she cut him off.

"Kazemi P. Mirim. This scythe is her legacy along with the blood that flows in her veins. She is my heir, and without a doubt, freedom will be the first to flourish inside of her. Treat her as your own, please… but don't let her ever forget what she is…" Maya pleaded and Whitebeard nodded before he, hesitantly, exited the room to leave her in her final moments. Again Maya turned on her side and just stared at Mirim for a while.

"I don't know what to say… except that I hope you won't remember this day, no matter how much I want you to remember me… it would be horrible to have this imprinted in your memory… but the words I hope you'll remember." She said weakly. Mirim cooed and smiled holding her hands out trying to reach her mother. Maya smiled weakly and lifted her hand, letting the infant grasp it tightly. Only then did she notice that she was crying.

"Silly me, crying in front of you on such a wonderful day. This has been the best day in my whole life. I gave birth to you, I brought you into this world… I've never been so happy." She gently tugged her hand free and stroked her head.

"I just wish that I… that I could stay with you and watch you grow… I wish I could see you fall in love and have children of your own… to see you lead a good life but I can't." Maya sobbed quietly as she felt her strength ebbing out.

"Be strong Mirim. Always smile. Don't let anything stop you from smiling. Become a daughter of Whitebeard… find love… protect… you're the fifth of _our_ lineage but not theirs… make sure it continues and does not end with you… I love you and we… will always watch over you. Don't you ever forget that." She smiled through her tears as she watched her daughter break out into a big smile before she closed her eyes and her hand fell from Mirims' head and onto the bed beside her daughter who grabbed at her hands again.

Outside Whitebeard waited and waited, and only when he heard the infant cry did he realize that Maya was gone from this world. It was a heart wrenching sound to listen to an infant cry out for her mother as if the child knew that her mother was gone for good. For the first time since he became a pirate, Whitebeard cried.

**Innocence**

"Marco-nii-chan!" A six year old Mirim called out, running around on the deck looking for said pirate. She climbed up on the railing to get a better view over the deck but found herself losing her balance and falling backwards towards the ocean. Fortunately for her, the pirate she had been looking for had heard and seen her and grabbed her just in time.

"Geez, you're going to be the death of me, oy." Marco sighed as he held her up by her ankle. She smiled innocently at him before he turned her around and carried her back to her room below deck.

"No, no, no! I wanted to go with you into the town today!" She jumped out of his arms and grinned before she ran down the corridor and up on deck again. Unfortunately for her, Marco had much longer legs than her and caught up to her with no trouble at all and grabbed her by the back of her collar, hoisting her up again.

"Next time Mirim." He said and she pouted. "You always say that but you never take me with you!"

"If you promise to behave and wait patiently until I get back, I'll get you a doll, okay? And how about I find you a toy sword while I'm at it, oy?" She studied him for a few moments before nodding and tugging on his arms as he let her down, telling him to follow her. Once inside her room again she went over to the little treasure chest she had. Marco had to dodge various teddy bears, dolls, toy guns and swords before she held out a tiny pouch.

"Could you get me some candy too?" She asked and he nodded, taking her pouch and walking out. She knew though, that he would not use her gold. He never did.

**Innocence**

Yawn…

A twelve year old Mirim sat on the top of the mast, tired and sleepy. She still kept her smile because even though she was extremely tired she had woken up early to witness this. The sunrise. She had to greet the morning with a smile, after all. When they had been on land she had woken up early for no reason and had witnessed the sunrise. Now she had woken up early on purpose only to see if there was any difference when they were out in the open sea. She was glad she had decided to do this. It was much more beautiful with only the sky and the ocean as the scenery around it.

"Hey! Mirim! Why are ye awake this early in the mornin'?" She looked down and saw Marshall D. Teach. She stood up and jumped, grabbing a hold of a loose rope and swung down to him.

"Don't do that, ya'll give me a heart attack." He laughed and she grinned.

"Sorry Teach. You know I like to swing around freely. It's like flying." She joked but yawned again. "I bet yer tired. Ya better get some rest so ya won't turn narcoleptic on us." They both broke out into howling laughter.

"There's no such thing as narcolepsy Teach-nii." She said as she waved and returned to her quarters.

**Innocence**

"Pops, who is he? He managed to beat Jimbei-nii up pretty badly." Mirim asked Whitebeard as she saw a young man with an orange cowboy hat and black hair stand up against Jimbei. Both were badly hurt and breathing heavily.

"They call him 'Fire Fist Ace', one of the rookies with high bounties. He's even been asked to be a Shichibukai. He just laughed in their faces, the cheeky boy." The old man chuckled and the girl's eyes widened.

"Really? He doesn't look any older than me. He has to be eighteen or something… he's rather handsome." She giggled. Whitebeard sharply turned his head towards her, his only 'daughter' on the ship. Her birthday was only a few weeks away and she would be marked as one of the Whitebeard Pirates. The instincts of a father appeared and he stood up, towering above his subordinates even more so now than when he was sitting.

"Which one of you said he'd take my head? If you want it so badly, here's your chance!" Whitebeard boomed and jumped off his ship, and the impact alone sent most of Fire Fist Ace's men flying. Their captain noticed this and created a wall of fire between his men and himself, giving them a chance to run.

"Captain! Captain Ace what are you doing?" The Whitebeard Pirates heard the Spade Pirates yell.

"You guys make a run for it!" Ace yelled and turned back to Whitebeard.

"What… are you cowarding out?" Whitebeard smirked. "Let my crew escape! In return I'll stay right here!" Ace shouted before letting out a battle cry and charging at the strongest man in the world.

**Innocence**

"My name's Thatch. I'm the Commander of the Fourth Division. If you're gonna be our crewmate, let's try to get along." Thatch tried but was abruptly cut off by Ace.

"_Shut up!"_

"Haha, someone woke up in a bad mood… okay, let me tell you what happened after you passed out. Your crew came back for you, but we beat the shit out of them. Don't worry, they aren't dead. They're on this ship right now."

"Are you alright, with me being on this ship without handcuffs or anyone guarding me?" Ace glared at Thatch who only smirked back before pointing towards a girl with green hair who participated in a wrestling match with another crewmate.

"You see her? She is a master thief, no kidding. No one can catch her or hear her if she doesn't want them to. Even so, she's never managed to throw our captain off guard." The young captain of the Spade Pirates heard a challenge in Thatch's voice and decided to take Whitebeards' head no matter what.

**Innocence**

Mirim and Marco were walking around with a bottle of ale each and joking around. Marco was already beginning to get drunk but Mirim had not inhaled as much ale as her comrade so she was not the slightest drunk at all. As they were about to walk past Whitebeard's window someone flying through the wall.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, sneaking around here in the middle of the night?" Whitebeard bellowed before promptly falling asleep again. Mirim and Marco turned from their captain to the one who had been sent flying and saw Ace holding his nose, blood running down between his fingers. Mirim walked over to him and pushed his hand away and gently squeezed the poor man's nose. He flinched as cocked her head to the side, seemingly satisfied with her findings.

"It's not broken." She grinned and offered him some of her ale. "Want some?" He just pushed her away and stood up but Mirim would have nothing of that. She stood up too and grabbed his wrist, proceeding to drag him to her own quarters.

"Mirim, oy?" Marco called confused. "Don't worry; I can take care of myself. Just get the shipwrights to fix the wall, okay?" She called over her shoulder and pushed Ace into her room once they arrived, and told him to sit on one of her many chairs as she set down her bottle on a table. She began looking for a towel and when she found one she dragged another chair over to Ace and began cleaning his face.

"You should be more careful. One of these days you might just fall into the ocean and drown. " She grinned at him. "After all, you're a Devil Fruit user, right?" She halted her movements until he nodded.

"But seriously, join us already. It would be nice with a few new faces around here." She told him with a huff. "Are you growing tired of the men here already?" He snarled rudely and she laughed while putting away the towel.

"Nope, I'm more interested in women." At his shocked look she raised an eyebrow. "That was a joke. Ever heard of them? My point is, when you see the same faces every day you want to meet others. There, all cleaned up. Want to borrow the bed? I'm probably gonna drink with Marco-nii all night and I know from experience that the deck is not comfortable." Ace shook his head and with a dark look he left. She shrugged.

Day after day Ace tried to kill Whitebeard and each time he failed. Once he fell into the ocean and almost drowned, as Mirim had predicted.

"Has he reached the 100th mark yet?" Jozu asked and Mirim grinned at him. "Probably passed it a long time ago."

It was nighttime. Two weeks since Mirim had spoken with Ace had already passed and Ace found himself alone on deck in the cold although his Mera Mera Fruit kept him warm. To have something to do he walked around aimlessly on deck as a feeling of loneliness washed over him. He missed his crew. He hoped they were alright.

"Pops… What was my mother like?" He heard a voice and hid himself. He glanced around the corner and saw Mirim sitting on the railing with Whitebeard sitting on the stairs. "Your mother?"

"Yeah… was she a good woman? Or scum? Marco-nii told me that she handed me over to you the day she gave birth to me." Mirim mumbled. Whitebeard sighed and looked to the sky, wondering how he should phrase his words.

"Your mother Maya was a great woman, master thief with skill still far superior to yours, don't give me that look kid, and it is true that she came to us with you the day you were born. She didn't have much choice in the matter." At this Mirim turned shocked towards the man she called her father.

"What do you mean?"

"Your mother was a woman of the sea… literally. Water was the element she was born with like wind was yours. She told me too when she came with you, that freedom would be the first to flourish within you."

"I don't understand." Mirim said confused and wondered if she should be happy that Whitebeard spoke of her mother with such reverence or annoyed that he was speaking in riddles. "Your mother was attacked by the marines the day she gave birth to you. By willpower and luck she managed to find us. She died shortly after." There was a stunned silence until Mirim broke it, speaking so quietly that Ace almost couldn't hear her but the words stung him just as much as they probably stung her.

"So… If I had not been born… my mother would still be alive? It's my fault right? Do you blame me for it?" Ace's eyes widened. There was someone else that was like him. Someone else who felt the guilt.

"Don't get any stupid thoughts about this kid!" Whitebeard said sharply. "I've never seen Maya as happy as she did when she held you in her arms that day! You were her first and only daughter who she treasured more than her own life! She left her scythe, which has been passed down from mother to daughter for four generations! You are the fifth generation!" An awkward silence followed as Whitebeard calmed himself down. He was too old for this.

"I do not blame you for not remembering-"

"I'm glad you told me!" Mirim cut him off. "You see… every night since I was a kid I've been having the same dreams. Someone lying beside me but I couldn't see their face and… a voice telling me that they loved me and… I just wanted to know who it was. Do you think it's her?"

"Mirim-"

"I just… I just wanted to know!" She cried out and jumped into Whitebeard seeking comfort as she cried. "I just wanted to-to meet her at least once! Why did she have to die?" Ace slowly retreated from the sad scene, left to contemplate a lot of things.

The next day Ace sat by himself, his face hidden behind his knees. He heard someone approach and saw the bowl with stew being put beside him.

"Why do you call him 'pops'?" He asked weakly. "Because he calls us his 'sons', oy." Marco chuckled. Ace had actually expected it to be Mirim since she was the only one who pestered him after he had blown off Thatch.

"We're hated all around the world, oy. But we're happy, those words make us happy." Marco chuckled. "Do you seriously want to continue getting almost killed, oy? It's time to reach a decision. Will you take Whitebeards' mark on your back?" Ace lifted his head and nodded.

"I… I guess I will, if my crew can join too, if they want to." Marco smiled at him.

Everything had been pure bliss after Ace had agreed to bear Whitebeard's mark. A few days later, Mirim had also been allowed to be branded a Whitebeard Pirate and had been placed in the Second Division, becoming the Lieutenant the moment the division had a Commander because Whitebeard deemed her worthy. She was happy to have Ace as her superior when he took the mantle as the Commander of the Second Division only a few months after her being branded. During the celebration of Ace becoming the Commander Mirim sat with Teach and laughed when Ace fell asleep.

"I stand corrected Teach-nii." Teach blinked in confusion. "Narcolepsy _does_ exist." She laughed and so did the rest of the crew when they realized what had happened. Life was good; everything was as it should be. That was, until two years later when everything crumbled around her.

"He… He did what?" Mirim whispered in disbelief. Teach had killed Thatch? Ace was ablaze with fury and struggled to get out of Jozu's hold, yelling and cursing.

"Ace, it's okay, just this once. I've got a bad feeling about this." Whitebeard said calmly although he wanted nothing more than to hunt Teach down for justice. Still, one did not just ignore their instincts when they screamed at you to stay your hand, especially not the instincts of someone who had lived as long as Whitebeard.

"He killed one of his own and ran for it! How many decades has he served you? He disgraced you and ran away like a coward!" While Ace was arguing with his captain Mirim was still standing in shock. Teach had killed Thatch. _Teach_ had killed _Thatch_.

"I can't believe it!" She shouted and everyone shut up. "Teach-nii wouldn't… Teach-nii _wouldn't_…" She trailed off and bowed her head. She wouldn't believe it. She _couldn't_ believe it but said man was not there to plead his innocence. He was gone.

"Thatch is dead Mirim. I've seen the body, oy." Marco said and put a hand on her shoulder. All her anger and sadness wracked her body and she turned swiftly, hugging the older man to keep herself from falling to the floor. He returned the embrace and comforted her. Ace stared at them for a few moments before pulling himself free.

"Fine Ace. If you want to hunt Teach then do so. I'll let you go since he was your subordinate and-" He abruptly shot to his feet as a pillar of water shot up beside them. "Are we under attack?" The crew immediately went into action but there was no ship anywhere, or the sound of any canons but the pillar of water did not disappear. It was still there and suddenly water shot out from it and hit Mirim, sending her flying overboard.

"Mirim!" Marco yelled but she stopped in midair. "It's okay, I got it." She was using her element, wind, to keep herself up in the air but suddenly whips of water grabbed a hold of her arms and legs and pulled her under.

"_Mirim (oy)!" _They hurried over to the side of the ship but there was no sign of any bubbles in the water. "Find her!"

"Wait!" Whitebeard yelled over all of his crewmates. "We don't know what happened! We can't risk anyone jumping into a trap!"

"What are you saying pops?" Jozu bellowed. "Whatever that thing is it got Mirim!"

"I know!" Whitebeard growled. "But Mirim can take care of herself. Have faith in her." Though he said this, his knuckles turned white and the arms on his chair squeaked as they threatened to give in to his strength.

At the same time, Mirim had at first struggled when she had been dragged underwater though she quickly noticed that she was not drowning but was rather inside a bubble filled with air. However, the bubble was not one of her own making. She had never attempted to make an air bubble before. There was something weird about it though.

It was warm, and comforting, familiar.

_Mirim. _Her head snapped up and she looked around in the dark but she could see nothing.

"Is it… the voice from my dreams?" She asked hesitantly. _Do you dream of me?_ The voice asked anxiously, almost sounding happy.

"Yes. I dream of you often." She answered. "Where are you? I can't see you!"

'_Let me see your face, please._' She thought. She so wanted to see this person's face, to see if they looked alike at all but alas no one appeared.

_I am all around you. I manifest in all the waters in the world. I have no physical shape anymore._

The voice continued to communicate with her though for a while before the air began to run out.

_I will return you to the ship now. I only wished to talk to you._

"It was… nice talking to you?" Soft laughter could be heard and Mirim grinned sheepishly and felt herself being lifted upwards. Soon the dark waters were penetrated by light and she could see the surface closing in.

"Are you my mother?" She asked before the bubble broke through the surface. There was a pause before the voice replied. _I was…_ Mirim noticed that on her ankle was glowing blue. She pulled her leg up and saw that there was a water drop tattoo etched into her skin.

'_Water?'_

"Mirim! I can see her!" The bubble broke and Mirim fell under the water again. Spluttering she managed to swim up and grabbed the rope that was thrown at her. She was quickly pulled up on deck and wrapped in a towel to dry her off though she still needed to change her soaked clothes. She paused before glancing at Whitebeard, coming to a decision.

"Pops, I'm going with the Commander. Don't try to stop me."

"Mirim-"

"Someone's gotta pull his narcoleptic ass out of trouble." Whitebeard laughed loudly for that comment before finally relenting, although very hesitatingly, wondering how and why she could come to that decision after several minutes under the water. She didn't know herself. He didn't want either of them going after Blackbeard but their stubbornness could rival his and he knew they would leave anyway, regardless of what he would say. "Alright, but I won't have you travelling with him for very long, you hear me? A division can't function properly without someone in command."

The following night, when most of the crew had fallen asleep without the help of rum in some sort of respect for their fallen friend, Mirim found herself sitting on the ground, her back against the main mast of the ship. She was all alone and pulled her knees up to her chest to keep warm. Tears stung her eyes, not because of the encounter with the spirit of what she was sure was her mother, but because her heart ached at the loss of a brother.

"Hey." She looked up to see Ace stare down at her. "Commander." She acknowledged and he sat down beside her.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "You knew Thatch better than me." She chuckled bitterly.

"He practically raised me, together with pops and the other Commanders." She told him. She had fond memories of everyone who had surrounded her as she grew up. She knew that a pirates' life was dangerous, deadly, and that her friends could be killed any time. But Thatch had been strong. And the fact was that he was killed by someone they had all trusted... It stung. Ace noticed how bad it affected her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, we'll catch him and make him pay. He won't get away with this." She smiled up at him, or at least she tried to, but it was more of a grimace than a smile. "Teach-nii was my brother too…" He flinched. Perhaps his words had the opposite effect of what he had intended?

"But… This is unforgivable." She agreed. Her smile slipped off her face. "Why Commander? Why did he do it?" Ace frowned. He didn't know. Why would Teach betray Whitebeard after serving him for decades? He said that he harbored no intentions of being a well-known pirate, he just wanted to be in Whitebeard's crew. He turned his eyes to the floor.

"I don't know."

"It's… it's not right! Thatch-nii shouldn't have died by the hands of a man he trusted!" Mirim wailed and tears spilled down her cheeks. "He shouldn't have died by being stabbed in the back!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him.

"I know." He said quietly, letting her weep. "I know." He grit his teeth as she shook and wondered what had caused the turn-about in Teach. Mirim wondered this as well, and she was determined to find the answer to her question. A soft glowing light appeared and she looked up, seeing Ace's free hand glow as tiny balls of light, akin to fireflies, floated around on deck.

"Pretty." She whispered and forgot her tears for a moment. Ace smiled faintly. "Yeah. Let's think of them as lights guiding Thatch hm?" She nodded. She could do that.

This was how she found herself in a dancer outfit in Alabasta, looking into leads of Teach's whereabouts while Ace was looking for leads on his brother. This was also how she found herself standing between the marines and Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat pirates.

"So, how do we get out of this one?" She asked herself with a chuckle.


	3. Chapter 3

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

"By the way Luffy, who was that guy back there?" Nami asked as they ran away from where they encountered the marines and were saved by Ace.

"Oh him? My brother." Luffy said off-handedly, as if it was no big deal at all but this surprised the rest of the crew plus Vivi. They didn't know that their captain had a brother. "_Brother?!" _

"I'm not really surprised that you have a brother, but why is he here in the Grand Line?" Zoro asked. "He's a looking for the One Piece too. Ace is three years older than me therefore he left three years before me too." Luffy added as they jumped aboard the Going Merry and set sail, leaving the marines behind them.

"What are the odds of the both of you eating a Devil Fruit?" Sanji sighed and Luffy laughed again, saying that he was also surprised since Ace had not eaten one before leaving their home island behind. "Even back then I couldn't beat him in a fight!"

"Not even once? Against a regular human?" Nami was surprised. Luffy had always won his fights and never once had he been fighting against a regular human. "Yeah! I always got my ass kicked, but I bet now I can beat his big butt!" Luffy boasted while remembering the good old times when he was a kid. It felt good to have been able to see his brother again, even if it had only been for a few moments. Too bad they had to leave him behind though-

"Just whose butt is getting kicked?" A voice yelled and Luffy fell from the railing on the ship and onto the floor. Just where Luffy had been sitting Ace was now crouching with a person on his back. Luffy was glad to see his brother again but still felt that the older man didn't have to knock him off of his seat though it was all forgotten when Ace spoke again.

"Nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of my kid brother, I know he can be a handful." Ace bowed his head, completely ignoring his brother. "No, not at all!" The crew exclaimed and bowed back.

"Oh come on, this is Luffy we're talking about. Isn't he a bit much to handle sometimes?"

"Not at all." They repeated themselves and Ace chuckled, not once believing them. He had grown up together with the boy after all, and knew how much of a handful he had been when he was a kid. Still, he appreciated that they were willing to follow his brother to the Grand Line and beyond. If they were willing and able to keep up with his antics then there was one thing Ace knew for certain.

"You're good people."

Luffy then asked Ace what he was doing in Alabasta and the freckled man realized that Luffy never got the message he left behind in Drum.

"Luffy!" The person on Ace's back exclaimed and jumped onto deck.

"Ah! You're that girl from the restaurant!" He yelled pointing at her. Mirim fell to the floor dramatically as she used her right hand to support her upper body while her left covered her mouth as her eyes twinkled with unshed tears. Ace blinked in confusion. What was she doing now?

"I'm just a no-name dancer who happened by to be saved by the Commander from horrible, horrible men." She said with a weak voice filled with admiration for said pirate. This alone made Sanji have a nosebleed. "Oh poor maiden. Don't be afraid, you're safe with me!" It was impossible to know where he had managed to find the roses he suddenly held in his hand for they had not bought any when they were stocking up on supplies and neither did they have any from any island they had been to since they picked the blue haired princess up.

"She's my Lieutenant and she definitively does _not_ need any man protecting her." Ace laughed as he lifted her cape to show the crew the twin golden knives and silver blue scythe strapped to her back.

"Heh, surprise." Mirim grinned at them, wanting to laugh at their expressions. As she stood up and pulled the cape from her shoulders they realized that the scythe was large. The staff was almost as long as she was and the curved blade was just as long as her arm and they wondered how they could have missed it. Chopper then realized that she was bandaged and asked if she was hurt. She shook her head and removed the bandage.

"No, no, I just thought it would be a damn good idea to hide pops' symbol if I were to gather information without drawing unwanted attention." She said and showed them her Whitebeard tattoo, though it was different than Ace's. It was in the shape of a cross with a crescent moon moustache and it was black, not dark purple. In the background Sanji and Zoro were fighting. Zoro had become quite annoyed with Sanji's insistent declarations of love which every female on the ship had pointedly ignored.

"Well, to get back on track, we're here for a silly little task. I figured we'd try to meet up with you. Luffy, will you come join the Whitebeard Pirates? With your friends too, of course." He said seriously but of course Luffy rejected his offer.

"No way!" And Ace had to laugh for he had anticipated that answer. "Just thought I should ask. Just so you know Luffy," Ace began as Mirim rolled up the bandage and leaned on the railing. "Me and Mirim plan on making Whitebeard the king, not you."

"That's okay, I'll just fight him!" Luffy was so simple-minded and Ace had to smile. It made him proud that his little brother had such confidence and strength, not to mention an interesting crew. It seemed like Sanji finally got his sanity back as he invited the two Whitebeard Pirates inside for dinner which Ace politely declined.

"Oh come on Commander. It's so damn boring travelling alone all the time. Besides, grab this chance to travel with your brother, won't you? What's the chance of you finding each other again before months or perhaps even years pass?" Ace shook his head but she wouldn't give in. With big, adorable eyes she begged him to stay a while longer and for a moment it seemed he would decline again but then he just sighed.

"Well, perhaps we can take a day or two to rest…" First then did Luffy ask Mirim for her full name.

"Kazemi P. Mirim." She answered, feeling that she could trust the crew of her Commander's brother, and Nami suddenly exclaimed loudly, while pointing at her. "Not the same famous female pirate, Death God Mirim, with the 390,000,000 beri bounty?!"

"They upped it again? Fuck yeah!" Mirim cheered to herself.

"The same famous pirate who always get herself into trouble." Ace sighed. She whipped around and raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Oh, you're just going to love this." Ace began the tale of what happened _after _Luffy and his crew escaped from Smoker.

**An hour earlier**

"I don't get it. Why are you protection the Straw Hats?" Smoker growled. "Keh, having a younger brother who is a bit on the slow side makes his older brother worry." Ace smirked.

"What do you mean 'younger brother'? That means-" But Smoker was cut off as hands appeared out of nowhere and pushed his head down as unfamiliar weight landed on his back. He couldn't believe all the humiliation he was facing this day and he felt something snap.

"Commander!" Everyone stared at Smoker, or rather the girl who was standing on said marines' back, her hands resting on his head to keep her balance. "Leaving me behind was mean!"

"Mirim…. Do you have any idea of_ whom_ you're standing on?" Ace asked while bringing his hand out to cover his face. She really knew how to ruin a dramatic moment between two enemies. She looked down and saw that she was indeed standing on Smoker, whose face and neck were slowly turning redder and redder from both embarrassment and fury.

"… My bad?" Smoker activated his powers but by then she had already leaped over to Ace who conjured a fire ball and thrown it at the marines. This gave them the opportunity to escape as Smoker attacked the fireball with his own powers though that only aided the pirates in their escape and find their way to the Going Merry.

"She… stood on Smoker?" Usopp stared at the girl with wide eyes, debating on whether she was crazy or just very, very stupid. He opted for the former, it seemed less insulting and considering her weapons and bounty it also seemed safer. "_Are you crazy? You are, aren't you?" _

"She's just a too carefree, happy, idiot." Ace remarked which earned him a slap to the back of his head from said female. She glared at him as she spoke. "Says the one who set his pillow on fire in his sleep the other day." Ace glowered at her and she stuck out her tongue at him before she frowned and squinted into the distance.

"What?"

"Enemies, I think." She replied and everyone turned to where she was looking.

"That's billion ships!" Vivi exclaimed. It was evident that she was worried that they were outnumbered. "I'll take care of it. Hup!" Ace said as he tossed Mirim his bag and they all watched as he jumped on board his dinghy.

"Is he going to fight them all alone? In that little boat?" Usopp asked and Mirim smirked. "The Striker is a very reliable dinghy, boy. There's nothing like it in the world, not even here in Grand Line." She leaned against the railing and enjoyed the show that was about to start.

**Innocence**

"Why are the two of you in Alabasta instead of being with your crew?" Nami asked Ace as Mirim bickered back and forth with Luffy after Ace had disposed of the billion ships, telling him that she and Ace would never leave Whitebeard, not for anything in the world. And if Ace dared to turn his back on Whitebeard she would cut off his balls and feed them to the fish. This caused a shudder from the rest of the males on board.

"We're in a pursuit of a man. He's known as Blackbeard." Ace said, pointedly ignoring Mirim's threats and trying not to imagine the pain she could inflict.

"The pirate who sacked the Kingdom of Drum?" Vivi asked and Ace sat up straight while Mirim continued the conversation on his behalf. "He used to be a member of our division, the Second Division, like me, our subordinate, but then he committed the greatest crime on a pirate ship."

"The greatest crime?" Chopper asked. He was young, a child only, and did not know everything there was about being a pirate yet.

"He murdered a comrade and fled the ship." Ace growled and clenched his fist. "As the Commander I have to go and finish him off."

"So that's why you're after him." Usopp nodded knowingly and Ace nodded as well. "The only reason we're in this country is because he was last seen in Yuba."

"Then you are going the same place as us. We're also headed for Yuba." Nami told them and Mirim nudged her Commander. "Seems like you'll have the company of pretty girls for a while longer, eh?" The fire-user grinned at her in agreement.

"It's a nice change from what I have been traveling with for the past weeks." That earned him a punch in the gut. "Totally… worth it." He wheezed out and she huffed.


	4. Chapter 4

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

Mirim was having a blast. Though the crew was much smaller than the one she was used to, they were just as much fun. Luffy was, in general, a goofy idiot. The complete opposite of Ace, who was polite, intelligent and, according to the crew, much more bearable. She did not agree. Yes, Ace was much more intelligent than Luffy, and polite, but damn the boy was funny to hang around. The kid had no boundaries.

The most hilarious thing was when Sanji realized his captain and crewmate washed the dishes with the mop water they had just used to swab the deck with. Not long after that Nami called on them, saying that the reason they had anchored was so Vivi could send the king a message and that they would sail for a short distance more before they would be going the rest of the journey on foot. Through. The. Desert.

Now that was something Mirim did not enjoy thinking about.

"I knew that Crocodile of the Shichibukai was in this kingdom, but whoever heard of a pirate trying to take over a kingdom? What a shitty joke." Ace chuckled darkly.

"We're supposed to rule the seas, not the land. This country is lucky to have such a strong-willed princess, eh?" Mirim giggled. She could admire Vivi's courage and will to save her country despite being just a child. "Alright, let's set sail!" Luffy called but was immediately scolded for not waiting for Usopp who had not boarded yet.

"There could be more to this kingdom-takeover than meets the eye." Ace muttered to himself as they continued their journey. "You think there's a deeper, ulterior move?" Zoro questioned and Ace nodded.

"As far as I am concerned you're not a pirate anymore when you settle down and conquer a fucking country." Mirim shrugged her shoulders and Ace nodded for a second time. He agreed on that too. Once they anchored again Sanji was having a full blown panic attack. Apparently, he did not enjoy the thought of the women covering up their skin so that they wouldn't acquire sunburns. Vivi explained how hot the desert was at day and how cold it would be at night. They needed to cover themselves.

"What's got him so worked up?" Mirim asked while nodding at Sanji. She had been under deck changing her clothes and had missed Vivi's explanation of the dangers in the desert. She was now wearing knee-length dark blue shorts with a sash around her waist which was sky-blue and a yellow bikini-top. It immediately got Sanji up on his feet again, just as energetic as he was before the girls covered up. "It seems he doesn't approve of their new clothing. Speaking of which, here." Ace handed her a dark red cloak that covered her just as much as Nami and Vivi's new clothing.

"You'll get burned too if you don't wear this." This of course made Sanji verbally attack the Second Division Commander for giving her such an idea that she needed to cover up "her beautiful body" as he put it and Ace grinned sheepishly, defending himself with facts.

"You don't want her to suffer a sunburn do you? It hurts quite a bit you know." Sanji paused before turning away from him sulking. After an amusing encounter with Kung Fu Dugongs, who had wanted to go with them because Luffy had defeated their leader, they had come far into the desert. Already Luffy and Usopp had begun to complain about the heat, and Chopper, the poor reindeer, couldn't stand the heat at all with his thick fur. Zoro was forced to drag him all the way on a makeshift sledge they had made along the way. Then they saw a city, or what remained of it.

"This is Erumalu." Vivi told them in a quiet voice. "By looking at this city, you see how much the people of Alabasta have suffered at the hands of Baroque Works." They passed through the ruins and the princess told them how there had been a draught for the past three years. There had not been a single drop of rain. She showed them a canal Erumalu had used to obtain water from the river they had sailed up through but had been destroyed. The wind picked up and howls could be heard all around them.

It sent chills down the crew's spines.

"What is that? Are those people?" Nami questioned while looking around nervously. "Could it be assassins from Baroque Works?" Usopp tensed up and everyone readied themselves for the worst until Ace realized what caused the howling.

"It's just the wind."

"They sound like voices." Luffy insisted. "It's nothing dangerous. The winds are passing through the town and reverberating among the ruins." His brother assured them. The whole city was a ruin so they could understand his explanation but it was still a terrifying sound.

"It's crying." Mirim said while looking around. "The wind is crying, no, the whole country is." A whirlwind raced towards them and enveloped them in sand and dirt. They covered their eyes and mouths to stop the sand from causing discomfort but then, when it stilled, Luffy stormed forward. Only then did the others notice that there was someone lying not far from them.

"Is there someone still alive in this city?" Vivi almost couldn't believe it. Hope rushed through her but as she passed Luffy who had stopped she froze as well, her hope crushed. There was no one left in the city. What lay before her was but one skull and a cloak.

"What have my father done… What have my people done to deserve this?" Vivi cried out. It was not questions meant to be answered; she just had to let it out. "_I'll never forgive him!_" Just as she yelled out the last part a nearby tower crumbled to the ground. Sanji, Luffy and Usopp had turned furious as they watched Vivi cry and needed to vent their anger on something. All the while Ace was digging a hole in the ground to put the skull in, so that they at least could see the poor soul off in peace.

Mirim was in her own world though. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, she listened and listened but she heard no more. As the others began their journey again Ace alerted her by shadowing the sun.

"Has it passed?" He asked and she nodded before climbing up on her feet again. "And it won't return, but that's okay. I've heard enough." The wind had been crying, conveying emotions and whispers she had never heard nor felt from an element before. It was disturbing and she did not want to feel such a thing anymore. She sincerely hoped that the lead on Blackbeard was still in Yuba when they arrived. If it was, she would get her answers and the hunt would be over. And then, when and if Luffy and his crew managed to help Vivi, then the wind would stop crying in this country.

Having the world cry because of humanity's greed was too much.


	5. Chapter 5

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

Luffy did not take as well to the heat of the desert as the others. Vivi were one of those who seemed to be mostly unaffected but that was because she was used to the climate. The others soon grew tired of Luffy's complaining and told him to quit it, lest he tired himself out faster than he should. Zoro was still pulling Chopper on the makeshift sleigh and grew annoyed as well when Chopper transformed into one of his bigger sizes while arguing with Usopp.

"Quite the cheerful bunch, aren't they?" Mirim asked as she walked beside Ace who simply nodded. "Alright, what's gotten into you today?" He turned towards her in surprise before shaking his head.

"Nothing. Why?"

"You seem angry." He raised an eyebrow before shaking his head again. "It's simply hot." She didn't buy it. His body was made of fire; he could take the heat better than any of them and she wasn't as bad out as Luffy even though she had trouble with heat. The hours passed on and once the sun began to set they made camp. Mirim had been observing her Commander during the day and had come to one conclusion.

"Here." She said as she handed him a bottle of water. He nodded in thanks and she sat down beside him. "Do they remind you of your old crew?" He turned towards her sharply but she gave him a pointed look.

"You don't fool me Commander. You've been awfully grumpy throughout the day and it seems it's because you've been watching them."

"Yeah, they do." He admitted in defeat and she squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. "At least you're not alone though. I've always been with Whitebeard but you didn't lose your crew, it just scattered into pop's divisions, but I'm here for you if you need anything." She grinned at him and he smiled back.

"Wow, so many stars!" Chopper exclaimed and grabbed their attention. They looked up and noticed that there was not a cloud in the sky. "He's right." She murmured. Though a sunrise was more beautiful on the open sea the night sky was the same everywhere. She liked the view, it was peaceful and beautiful. She shivered in the cold and noticed that the others were using Chopper as their own personal heat source next to the fire.

'_I've got my own fire.'_ She thought and lifted Ace's jacket. "Hey!" He was surprised but she wormed her way inside before he could protest and wrapped her arms around him, already feeling the heat begin to cover her as well.

"You're warm." He chuckled. "I know."

"And don't you dare burn my hair." He erupted into laughter then. "Alright, alright." She said no more after that, for she quickly fell asleep. Vivi came over and talked with him for a while.

"Aren't you surprised? About Luffy. I was surprised at first too. He doesn't act like a captain. It's normal for a pirate captain to be revered by his crew and yet only this afternoon they fought so much because he drank some water." Ace smiled lightly and nodded.

"But I guess that's just Luffy's way of doing things. It took me a while to understand that." Ace glanced at his brother and nodded before turning back to Vivi. "He's been like that for as long as I can remember. He hasn't changed a bit since he was a kid. He acts like a fool but people have always gathered around him. He may be my little brother but he has this mysterious charm about him."

"I guess I was just telling you something you already knew." Vivi giggled. "He and I do go way back you know, but I appreciate it." He said while staring at his brother. He was happy for him, truly. "You thought I was worried about him, didn't you?"

"Yes, but it seems my concerns were a bit misguided. Anyway, maybe you should move into the tent? It's warmer there." The princess offered but he shook his head.

"I ate the Mera Mera no Mi, so I won't freeze and as long as Mirim stays close to me she won't either. Besides, she can be cranky if you wake her up so- ouch!" He yelped.

"What's wrong?" Vivi asked concerned, wondering if he may have been stabbed by a scorpion or something. "N-nothing, nothing at all. I'll move in a little while." She nodded, still a bit unsure, but retired to one of the tents. Ace rubbed his sore side while grumbling.

"Tch, you weren't asleep at all." Mirim had pinched him the moment he mentioned that she could be cranky after waking up. "You should have kept your mouth shut, dumbass." She muttered back before falling asleep for real. Ace muttered to himself while rubbing the sore spot but found that his mind quickly moved on to other matters.

The next morning Mirim was woken up by yelling. She cracked one eye open and saw the blue roof of a tent. Ace must have moved her sometime during the night. She was grateful for that. His snoring could be heard beside her and she wished that this time she could have slept through the yelling. She was still sleepy and the tent was warm. Not unbearably hot but comfortably so. Too bad the yelling kept her awake.

'_Whoever the fuck is yelling is going to get their asses kicked to kingdom come!'_ She thought sourly and disentangled herself from Ace's warm body and felt the morning chill as she left the tent.

"_Stop yelling so fucking early in the morning!"_ She yelled and punched the poor rubber captain sending him flying. This made Ace laugh as he also left the tent they had shared. He had woken up the moment she moved away.

"I told you she was cranky in the morning." Then Chopper climbed up on the rocks around their camp and stared into the distance. "Something's coming!" The reindeer answered when his captain asked what was wrong. Ace noticed he change in the air as well.

"The wind picked up."

"Everyone! Take cover behind the rocks, a sandstorm is coming!" Ace squinted his eyes and noticed she was right.

….

Wait… a sandstorm?

Everyone looked up and saw that, indeed, a great sandstorm was approaching. Ace grabbed a hold of Mirim and jumped behind the rocks while Usopp grabbed a hold of Chopper. Shielding Mirim inside his jacket Ace leaned over her and at the same time he pressed her to the rocks they were hiding behind to completely protect her from the storm.

"It won't listen!" She yelled but it was muffled by the roar of the storm and Ace's jacket. In a matter of minutes their camp was buried under the sand and with it its occupants. The first one to dig himself out was the Second Division Commander. He yawned loudly and damned his narcolepsy. He had fallen asleep under the sand on top of his Lieutenant who already had trouble breathing under the heavy layer of grains. He did not want to be remembered as the commander who suffocated his Lieutenant because he fell asleep, not to mention, Marco would probably kill him for it. Once he had helped her up he began digging the others out of the sand as well. Not everyone had been so unfortunate to be buried completely and it was easy to spot their colorful clothes in the sand.

"Damn! What the hell was that?" Zoro swore and Vivi apologized for not mentioning that sandstorms were a part of the many dangers in the desert. They all agreed on breaking camp early to avoid the risk of another sandstorm burying them. As the day dragged on Luffy became impatient and challenged everyone to Rock, Paper, Scissors. The one who won would be the one to carry all of their supplies.

"That's… not right is it?" Mirim scratched her head but stared on as the Straw Hat crew engaged in the game.

An hour later and Luffy was about ready to pass out. How could he know that everyone would use rock and he paper? That was cheating. He wanted a break. _'Where the heck is that outcropping?'_ He thought as his legs felt more like rubber than ever before. His prayers were answered soon enough when Usopp suddenly called out to the others and told them he saw an outcropping.

"_Finally!" _Luffy ran past them with renewed energy leaving them all in the dust. Coughing, they waved away the grains of sand he had kicked up when running past them.

"Goddamn." Mirim smirked and shook her head while readjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "He really is energetic."

"You don't even know half of it." Ace told her and they all laughed as they continued on, pretty sure that Luffy would be lounging in the shadows until they also reached their new resting place for the day, that was, until Luffy came running back yelling for Chopper. They wondered what all the commotion was about and hurried to the outcropping only to realize that all of their supplies were gone. Apparently they had been taken by birds. Mirim was extremely glad that she hadn't participated in Luffy's game of rock, paper, scissors and was carrying her own bag.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Luffy defended himself as Sanji grabbed ahold of his collar. "The birds outsmarted me!"

"You mean you're dumber than a bird?" The cook growled. The two began to fight but as Zoro was about to end it Ace told him to let them fight. That was the easiest way to let off some steam. The heat had been grating on all of their nerves the entire day after all. Of course then the flock of birds who had stolen their supplies came back and snickered, if birds knew how to, and took off. Luffy, the ever brilliant captain chased after them and disappeared, ignoring his crew's calls.

"Seriously, every time…" Sanji sighed and rubbed his head in exhaustion.

"Excuse me but… does he know the way back?" Everyone froze. Luffy didn't have a sense of direction. The only one who had worse was Zoro. Actually, the crew was pretty sure their captain didn't know what the word direction meant. After a while Zoro jumped to his feet.

"We've got no choice. Best we go look for him." As much as the cook hated to admit it, he had to agree with the swordsman. Again Ace apologized for his brother's behavior but before the two could leave for their captain the ground trembled beneath their feet. Usopp was instantaneously up on his feet and was using his goggles to pinpoint the location of whatever was in the distance that caused the phenomenon.

"It's Luffy!"

"Why am I not surprised!" Nami growled angrily.

"What's that following him?" Sanji demanded and Zoro shook his head. "I don't know, but it looks like it's… burrowing its way under the sand." Just as he finished his sentence a giant purple lizard-like creature emerged.

"It's a Great Sandora Lizard!" Vivi cried out.

"I've gotta admit, that boy does have a talent in attracting trouble." Ace laughed alongside Mirim who was rolling on the ground, trying to contain the tears in her eyes. This was way too much. This one boy alone was almost as much fun as the whole Whitebeard crew!

"Right, and we've got the scars to prove it!" Sanji exclaimed. "What kind of crap star was he born under?!" Zoro demanded as they ran to aid their captain against the lizard. The others almost felt bad for the monster when the three of them went all out at it like that. It seemed almost unfair, how they butchered the creature without hesitation and only with one attack each. Just then another one appeared behind them.

"I forgot to tell you but Sandora Lizards usually hunts in packs!"

"_Tell us these things!" _The whole crew yelled at her while at the same time urging Ace and Mirim to run away. Ace of course, would have none of it. He leaped into the beasts' mouth and used his ability. The moment the lizard closed its mouth fire shot out from its mouth and nostrils before it was enveloped in a huge pillar of fire.

"Alright, lunch!" Mirim jumped up on her feet excitedly. The lizards were indeed eatable and Sanji cooked them a nice lunch. These lizards made sure they had enough food for a long while yet so they ate to their hearts content, not worried in the least that they would run out of food for a while.

"Now that we have a moment, what's with the camel?" Zoro asked. First then did the others notice it. After a lot of explaining it was revealed that Chopper had met this camel earlier and was translating what it was saying as the others wondered if they could ride it though the camel insisted that it would only carry females. This caused the others to beat him up for his cheeky attitude.

"I'm sorry my crewmates are such idiots." Nami apologized after saving the poor animal from the men. "Now, what should we call you?" She asked as she mounted him.

"Idiot." Luffy recommended.

"Moron." Sanji added.

"Doofus." Usopp agreed.

"Eyelash it is then." Nami decided and helped Vivi on board. "That's even worse…" Zoro wondered if he should feel sorry for the animal or not. Once Vivi was seated on its back it took off with incredible speed.

"I guess I'm left with you eh." Mirim said dramatically. "Dear me. How will I survive this?"

"Don't worry Mirim! I'll protect you!" Sanji said in frenzy.

"I think she'll manage…" Ace shook his head at their antics. Mirim really shouldn't make Sanji waste his energy.


	6. Chapter 6

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

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Nami and Vivi had disappeared on the camel and the rest had been forced to walk and carry whatever luggage they had left. It did not take long before they lost sight of them and were walking aimlessly around; looking for the hoof-prints of the camel that had disappeared as the sands shifted. There was a breeze that blew through the desert and covered the tracks.

"Well? Do you see Nami and Vivi yet?" Ace asked but there was no answer. "Luffy?" He looked up and around him but saw no one but Mirim who was humming to herself.

"What?!" He yelled breaking his companion out of her train of thought. "What is it?"

"Where are the others?" Ace turned everywhere trying to locate their travelling companions, hoping that they were just a bit ahead or behind but there was no such luck. They were alone, in the middle of the desert without any real supplies.

"Screw this, if we continue forward we'll surely find them." He muttered to himself and the two continued forward. "I wonder how we could have lost them." The girl thought out loud.

"Yeah I do too since you were actually watching where we were going!" Ace hissed at her. "Well pardon me! Seeing as you are the Commander I thought you paid attention." There was a short silence before they both burst out laughing as they continued on but then Ace paused.

"Do you hear anything?"

"No-" She didn't manage to finish the sentence before a pillar of sand burst up and a giant scorpion glared down at them, showing off its claws and stinger. For a moment the two humans just stared at the creature that began to advance on them.

"You don't want to do that." Ace said calmly, as if the scorpion had outright said that it would attack them. "Think we can eat it?" Mirim clapped her hands together in excitement. The scorpion was suddenly having second thoughts though it reasoned with itself that it was bigger than the both of them combined therefore it was stronger. They were its prey. So it attacked.

A stupid move. Ace had fried it with a swing of his arm and now they were walking away from its smoking corpse. "Can't say I didn't warn you." The pirate said.

"Why the hell can't we eat it? You freaking fried it already!" Mirim whined as her stomach growled. She was oh so very hungry.

"Scorpions are poisonous. Ask Sanji to cook one when we find them." Her Commander replied flatly and then stopped making her walk into him. "What now?" She grumbled and walked around him only to stare at the purple lizard in front of them. Ace took one step to the side and so did the lizard. He took a step to the other side and the lizard followed. This continued on for a while.

"It's one of those days isn't it?" Mirim groaned while rubbing her forehead. It was too damn hot.

"You want to get in our way too pal?" Ace growled and the lizard looked above them to the fried corpse of the scorpion and tears fell like waterfalls down its face. Mirim, unlike her companion, took pity on the creature and went over to it, rubbing its jaw.

"Poor thing. My friend is far too hard on you." She cooed.

"He was the one who wouldn't get out of the way!" Ace defended himself but she waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

"You're impossible!" He threw his hands up in the air and she laughed at him. "Now, don't be like that. Let's see, how can we make use of you?" She wondered out loud and inspected the lizard.

"You seem to be pretty strong. Hm, can you carry us both, can you, can you?" It nodded its head excitingly and crouched down. Ace jumped onto its shoulders but the creature was adamant in wanting to carry Mirim in its arms. She giggled as it folded its hands and she sat down on them, leaning against its chest.

"I feel like royalty." She said with a smirk and Ace rolled his eyes. "Sure it just doesn't want to cup a feel?"

"It's a lizard Ace…" She glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Besides, better him than you or any other man."

"You don't mean that." Ace stared at her for a while. It was disturbing that she wanted to be touched by an animal rather than a human. He almost believed her, until she burst out laughing "You gullible man, you!"

"You're not funny…" He grumbled as she continued to laugh. The lizard made a sound akin to snorting and Ace hit it on its head. "Shut it!" The hours went by but it seemed like the creature did not grow tired at all. It kept going the same pace without stop or pause and Mirim rewarded it with a few mouthfuls of water as the sun grew hotter but soon enough the sun began sinking and the desert grew cold. They told the lizard to stop as they looked around. There was no sign of Luffy or his crew. They hadn't encountered them at all during the whole day.

"_Luffy! WHERE ARE YOU?" _Ace yelled out angrily but there was no response.

"It's getting dark. Let's just rest for now." Mirim said and slid down to the ground. As soon as Ace had jumped off she forced the lizard to lie down on the sand so she could lean against it while sleeping. She patted the empty space beside her and told Ace to sit down next to her and rest as well. It was clear that they wouldn't find their friends that day.

"I absolutely refuse to cuddle to that-that _thing_!" He crossed his arms stubbornly. "If you don't, I'll freeze." She pouted cutely, her amber eyes pleading for him to sit down beside her. He resisted, barely, until she shivered as a cold wind passed by. He twitched before he sat down beside her, providing the warmth she was denied since they had neither tents nor firewood to keep them warm.

'_She probably created that gust herself.'_ He thought sourly. He wouldn't put it past her to use her powers to get her way.

"You're clinging." He muttered. She raised an eyebrow unimpressed. "We have neither fire nor tent. You're a walking furnace. I'm _allowed_ to cling." Well, he couldn't argue with that logic. He _was_ fire and it was below freezing in the desert at night. Just one thing bugged him…

"Nobody, and I mean _nobody,_ will hear of this." He growled making her giggle. "I mean it!"

"I hear you." She said while shaking her head. Of course Marco and the others would hear of this. She had crossed her fingers underneath his cloak after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

**And a new picture of Mirim is up on DA. Link is in my profile. All thanks goes to Nicka93 for her good work.**

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The next day started out as the one before, with the exception of Luffy and Usopps' constant yelling in the morning, and absent of sandstorms. They mounted the lizard which had surprisingly _not _decided to run away during the night and from its shoulders Ace scouted the desert for any sign of the others or any civilization in general.

"Look! Isn't that a village?" Mirim suddenly called and he turned to look in the direction she pointed and nodded. "Yeah!" He hit the lizard over the head and it hastened its pace (making Mirim scold him for animal abuse) and in no time they were at the village. It seemed like this particular village seemed to have come unscathed by the war between the Rebel Army and the King. They seemed quite carefree and children ran down the streets playing and laughing, as if there was no rebellion at all, as if the country was still at peace.

"They seem to be pretty well off here." Mirim said while taking a step to the side to avoid being run into by a child who apologized as he passed her. Ace nodded and they walked around aimlessly before they paused outside the tallest building in the village and stared at it.

"After you, young lady." Ace mock-bowed and she curtsied in response. "Why thank you, kind sir." The building was plain on the inside, open and spacious as well, but there was not many hallways and therefore they did not get lost. Not that they knew much of the interior. They just followed the voices that echoed through the hallways.

"It's an honor to have the Rebel Army staying in our village. Ever since you came, lord Kamyu, the attacks on the village has stopped." They heard a joyful laugh inside. Both of them froze.

'_The Rebel Army?'_ Mirim thought. '_Then Vivi won't have to look anymore!' _Excitement rose up in her as they listened in on the conversation between the men. Now, if they could only find the princess in question…

"Well yeah, anyone who tries to mess with us would have to be pretty stupid!" They heard another man, who they guessed to be Kamyu, said in a boastful manner. "Mayor, just leave everything to us!" They heard him laugh. Somehow it didn't feel all that reassuring.

"So true, so true! But I've heard rumors that the battle between the Rebel Army and the Royal Army is drawing near." The mayor said. "Wouldn't it be a problem for you to be held back here?"

"We can eat all we want here. I don't want to-" Whatever the third person was going to say, it was lost as he was abruptly cut off. "Well that is that and this is this." Kamyu laughed nervously.

"Even if we're called the Rebel Army we haven't completely turned our back on the King yet."

"Yes! The people in this village still have complete trust in the King! We were thinking we should deal with things as they come." The mayor agreed. "Don't worry about it. Leave it to us. We've thought of nothing else while we've been protecting your village. But in exchange, don't forget the sake and food!"

"Yes of course! Well then, I'll excuse myself for now." Mirim and Ace pressed themselves to the wall as a rather short and broad man walked past them, humming happily to himself and not noticing the slightly darker shapes in the shadows. The two glanced at each other and shrugged before waking inside the room, shedding their coats without being noticed by the others as they laughed at the mayor for believing in them. They were but fakes, and it angered the two pirates. Even if they were both pirates who had done many terrible things, in the eyes of the civilians, they still had their morals after all. Then a fourth man ran inside yelling about Sand Pirates. While three of them began arguing about what they should do the fourth, Kamyu, began to gather supplies and gave them an answer.

"We're leaving!" And so they began to trek out of the room only to halt as they saw the purple lizard Mirim and Ace had been riding, staring at them and blocking the way. Mirim was pretty sure they had left it outside of the gates but she wouldn't complain if it was willing to carry them again.

"You guys sure got guts for calling yourselves the Rebel Army with that cowardly attitude. For four big guys you are doing something awfully small." Ace said as he ate the food the Fake Rebel Army just abandoned to escape.

"What do you expect? They're fakes who use a well-known and strong name to be revered as heroes. They make this sake taste sour." Mirim grumbled as she downed a bottle. She grimaced but still reached for another one. Even if it tasted bad it was still free alcohol. A golden rule she had been taught by Whitebeard was to never say no to booze.

"Who the hell are you? Mind your own business! How did you get in here?" The tallest one growled and grabbed his sword. Apparently he didn't see them as that big of a threat. That just showed that they didn't know much of the world outside of Alabasta.

"Food thieves!" The shortest one cried out and Mirim slammed her second empty bottle on the table and glared at them. "_What_ did you just say?" She demanded in a dangerously low tone as the three fake soldiers readied themselves to take the two of them out. Ace narrowed his eyes at them.

"Did you just insult my Lieutenant?" A couple of punches were thrown, as well as the fake soldiers, and Kamyu could only stare at his friends who had been so easily beaten up and thrown into huge vases and through the wall.

"Technically you're the food thief. I'm just drinking some sake." Mirim reached for her third one.

"They said thieves, not thief." Ace mumbled with his mouth full of food. Kamyu stared until Ace held out his bowl and asked for seconds. Kamyu took the bowl, stupefied before getting down on his hands and knees.

"I beg your forgiveness!" He suddenly exclaimed, gaining their attention. "As you can see, we're no match for the Sand Pirates. We need you to fight them for us!" He begged. The two glanced at him for a few moments. He assumed them to be powerful just because they, or rather Ace, had beaten his friends so easily. While it was technically true, it was at the same time a bit insulting. Not that the two cared much.

"Commander?" Mirim asked, lowering the bottle she had in her hands. "Well, I guess we could help you out. On one condition though." Ace smirked. Kamyu looked up with hope in his eyes.

"Yes! Whatever you want!" The condition was that Kamyu would equip them with water and food to last for several days. The fake soldier had no problems with that and arranged it to be done within an hour. As soon as they had their payment, the two pirates mounted their lizard and left the city with the inhabitants none the wiser.

"Commander, that was quite, I don't know, evil of you?" Mirim giggled as they left the village.

"It's they who're using the village. I just asked for payment for our services." Ace shrugged before covering his eyes from the sun. "I think you just want to help your little brother out. You're such a softie." Mirim laughed but Ace ignored it as he spotted something in the distance.

"Is that Luffy? It is! _Luffy!"_ He bellowed loudly to gain their attention. Luffy immediately noticed and ran towards them unlike the others who maintained their pace.

"What the hell is that?" Luffy asked when he stopped in front of them and Mirim shrugged. "Our ride." She didn't really know if it was some special kind of lizard or something but it had done a good job carrying them across the desert. Maybe Vivi could explain what it was?

"So you're the Sand Pirates they were talking about." Ace laughed. "If you're looking for the Sand Pirates they've already left." Luffy frowned but Ace still smiled. This made things easier. They didn't have to waste any effort or energy in fighting and driving away anyone.

"Yeah? Well, whatever, it's no biggie." Ace said like he didn't really care. "You want food and water? Because I've got plenty of both!" He exclaimed and showed them the supplies their lizard was pulling on a sleigh. While the crew was grateful for his help Vivi was a bit more concerned with _how _the two pirates had managed to gather so much food and water. They certainly didn't have the money for it, she was sure, if their bags weren't full of money instead of supplies, which she doubted.

"Ace, Mirim …" She began slowly, gaining their attention. "I don't think you could have been carrying enough money to pay for all that." She said nervously and became even more nervous when they stared her down.

"Please don't tell me you stole it from the village."

"What do you expect? We're pirates after all, but-" Mirim grinned as Ace finished her sentence. "But that's not our style. We got it from the Rebel Army."

"The Rebel Army?" The princess cried out causing Luffy and Chopper to spill some of the water they were drinking. "Well, maybe _fake_ Rebel Soldiers would be a more precise description." Ace chuckled in a calming manner but it didn't do anything to help calm Vivi down.

"What do you mean fakes?" Nami asked confused. "They're calling themselves the Rebel Army and are acting as bodyguards for the village. The villagers were so grateful they didn't think twice about it. They're really just some wandering hooligans in search of a free meal." Mirim scoffed, careful in phrasing the sentence. She didn't want to upset the princess who already shouldered the future of her country on her shoulders.

"But why be bodyguards?" Nami wondered. "Wouldn't they be discovered right away when bandits would appear?"

"It seems whenever thieves heard the name of the Rebel Army they ran off without starting a confrontation." Ace shrugged. "It's ingenious really."

"The Rebel Army isn't just a bunch of hooligans, or a decorative symbol to be displayed!" Vivi bit out angrily. "Vivi, should we show those guys a thing or two?" Sanji volunteered and it was not only him who wanted to teach these hooligans a lesson.

"Well, as far as using the villagers as their prey, thieves and this fake Rebel Army aren't much different." Ace had to agree.

"But the village has been at peace since the fakes came along." Mirim added. Though the fakes were using the name for their own gain, the village had been kept safe by the name alone. In a way they _were _protecting the little town.

"But don't you want to beat them to a bloody pulp? Try to look at this from Vivi's point of view." Sanji said staring at Ace and completely forgetting to argue with Mirim although that could be a good thing. He would never have been able to look at her before giving in.

"Well Vivi can do whatever she wants. I was just sharing my thoughts on the subject." Ace shrugged.

"You don't have to stick up for those shitty bastards." Sanji growled and Ace groaned while rubbing his neck. "I'm not sticking up for them. I just know you guys are in a hurry to get going, that's all." Mirim moved between the two of them before a fight could break out.

"And so are we." She reminded her Commander who nodded. "Sanji, please don't argue with my Commander anymore." She pleaded and the man gave in, all the while muttering about how cute she was when she begged. She raised an eyebrow.

'_I most certainly did _not_ beg. I don't do that crap.'_

"The country is in no condition to keep an eye on every single village right now." Vivi blurted out. "The best thing for the individual villages to do is to maintain peace by themselves. But that does not mean I will let them go like this." She turned to look at everyone in the company.

"Can you help me out?" The Straw Hat crew and Whitebeard Pirates smirked.

"Sure. What do you need?"

**Innocence**

"B-boss, are you serious?" The tallest of the fake soldiers asked. Were they really going to fight _sea_ pirates who were rumored to be more vicious than the Sand Pirates? "Pinhead! There's no way the boss can be serious!" The smallest one in the group exclaimed.

"Just shut the hell up! Once we set foot outside the village we'll run in the opposite direction of the pirates! There's no other choice if we want to stay alive, is there?" Kamyu said in despair. He really did not want to die this day even though he didn't want to leave the village either. What were the two pirates who had promised to fight for them doing? Had they run away with the food? He would have done it…

"He's right." The first one agreed, although hesitantly so. The four had unfortunately not noticed Ace and Mirim hiding in the shadows. With smirks on their faces they quickly retreated to warn Luffy and the others. They would have to cover every escape route from the gates.

After that was done they waited, on top of the gates, and saw the four walk towards the gate, throwing glances behind themselves all the way. At first Mirim thought they were afraid that the pirates had gotten inside but then she noticed that the villagers were following the four fake soldiers.

"Now they really can't run away, can they?" Mirim asked and Ace frowned. "Only if they actually care for the village. If they're scumbags they'll run away even if they're being watched." Once at the gates Kamyu took a deep breath before opening the gates. They all ran out but stopped short when they saw Luffy blocking their way. They turned to the right but froze as they saw Sanji and Usopp. To the left Zoro and Chopper, in his human form, stood and they began to tremble. All of their escape routes were blocked. There was nowhere to run.

"You know, with his hat shadowing half of his face, Luffy looks quite frightening." Mirim whispered to Ace who nodded. "He's got it from me." The Commander smirked making Mirim roll her eyes.

"I'm sure he did. His intelligence must come from you as well."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He glared and she innocently changed the subject. "Look, they're talking." Ace continued to glare but reluctantly moved his eyes to his brother as the captain spoke up.

"Who the hell are you? Rebels, was it?" Luffy growled in a deep voice. It certainly did not sound like him.

"Don't tell me he got this from you too?" Mirim asked jokingly. "Nope. He was like this when we were kids too. Shit, the villagers are coming!" They hurriedly jumped down and hid behind the wall on Sanji and Usopp's side, hidden from both the villagers and the fake soldiers eyes.

"Oi!" Luffy barked. "So you are Rebels?"

"Well, you see…" Kamyu began hesitantly but then the mayor of the village interrupted them. "Just you wait pirates! These honorable Rebel Soldiers will take you down!" He yelled fiercely and the village yelled their agreements behind him.

"Shut up! You're not making this any better!" Kamyu yelled, rivers of tears of fear running down his cheeks and the mayor apologized and retreated back, thankfully not opening his mouth anymore.

"Boss, I'm scared. What are we gonna do?" Kamyu's followers asked him. "Hey, you guys!" Ace called out but only just loud enough for the four to hear him. They began to look around, whispering and asking him to help them.

"Na-ah, this is _your_ fight. Try getting through it by yourselves." Mirim teased. "Mirim! But that's impossible, we're just fakes…" Kamyu whimpered.

"If you call yourself a man, suck it up-" Mirim hissed and made move to reveal herself and hit them all a few times for good measure but Ace covered her mouth and held her back.

"My subordinate is right." He flinched when she bit his hand. "How long are you planning on acting like a coward? You act as fake soldiers, at least act like a real man." He really wanted Mirim to stop struggling. They had a plan didn't they? He almost yelped as she bit down harder. _'How sharp are her teeth?!'_ The leader froze before he stared Luffy in the eye. No one knew what passed through his mind as he decided to take action.

"We'll just have to fake it like the fakes we are." He mumbled to the others before turning to the Straw Hat crew. "Hey, you bastards! We're not the only Rebels here! In this village there are a 100 million of our comrades!" He yelled as loud as he could and everyone turned quiet and Mirim stopped trying to get out of Ace's grip.

"Seriously? Was that the best he could do?" She sweatdropped and Ace facepalmed himself.

"Oi, oi. Even a kid could come up with a better lie." Usopp said.

"_What? A 100 million?!_" Luffy yelled causing Ace and Mirim to face vault on top of each other. "Would anyone believe that?!" Sanji and Usopp yelled at their captain.

"How stupid is your brother?" Mirim hissed at her Commander. "Even I thought he had grown a bit more than that." Ace bit back lifting himself off his Lieutenant and then helping her up.

"How dare you trick me?" Luffy yelled and lifted his fist. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" He shouted and punched forward. His arm stretched and hit Kamyu straight in the face, sending him flying past his friends and the gates. Luffy then began to walk forward, again his hat shadowed his eyes, and the grin on his face made him seem terrifying. He stopped in front of the others and cracked his knuckles, before reaching out towards them. They cowered back and closed their eyes but everyone was surprised then, pleasantly so as well. Kamyu had gotten up on his feet and had reached them before Luffy could do more damage. He grabbed the pirate's wrist and held him back.

"We may be just a bunch of fakes, but I want to be strong like the heroes I saw that day." With that he managed to get his comrades to stand up and look as he punched Luffy in the face sending him falling backwards and onto the ground. It seemed like they were all remembering something from their past, and it encouraged them, spurred them on, gave them the spirit to fight. At first the others in the Straw Hat crew were surprised that Luffy hadn't caught that punch and with scowls readied themselves to fight but each group was held back by each of the four fake soldiers.

"Hey, we're retreating." Usopp whispered to Sanji who darted forward and grabbed Luffy before running away with the others close behind-

"Shitheads! Damn you Rebel Army!" Sanji half-laughed, half-yelled. "I've never seen such strong looking Rebels in my life!" Usopp yelled behind him and this was a lie people actually believed, well, the villagers at least and that was good enough.

"I… just can't bring myself to say it." Zoro blushed in embarrassment and shame though Chopper had no problem with continuing the charade.

"Wait for me! Don't leave me behind to fight alone!" This left the fake soldiers stunned before the villagers began cheering and screaming in joy behind them.

"Seems like we can move on now, eh?" Mirim grinned and Ace nodded. "Indeed."

"Wait! Ain't that our lizard?" Mirim pointed past the fakes and sure it was. It glanced at them before it turned and took off running. "Damn that thing!" Ace began to curse but the girl grabbed the back of his collar and ran out of their hiding spot, laughing as she saw the stunned look the fake soldiers wore as they left them in the dust. It did not take them long before they caught up with the Straw Hats though they wondered why they still continued to run.

"Oi, Luffy!" Ace yelled.

"Oh, Ace!"

"How long are you guys planning to run for?" The big brother asked. "The act's over right?"

"You know, people who throw away their lives are scary!" Zoro shouted with Chopper resting on top of his head, the poor reindeer really couldn't take the heat, but at least he seemed satisfied with the outcome of what had just happened outside of the village.

"I see." Ace replied as Luffy began to laugh quite loudly.

"I know some guys like that. They are pretty terrifying." Mirim agreed while laughing loudly also. Ace glanced at her with a raised eyebrow but she never told him who it was.

'_Probably Marco or Jozu.' _He thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

The days became hotter and more unbearable than before the further they went into the desert. Everyone had trouble with the heat that the sun mercilessly dished out at them. Soon enough it was not only Chopper with his thick fur, or Usopp and Luffy who wanted to complain. Vivi herself, someone born and raised in Alabasta felt her energy drain with each step she took. Ace, who was fire himself grit his teeth in agitation. Luffy wanted to drink some water but Usopp stopped him, causing his captain to spill some on the sand.

"So what? This guy's gonna drink too!" Luffy pointed at Sanji.

"I'm saving this water for when Nami and Vivi tells me that they're thirsty! This way I'll have it ready right away!" He said with hearts in his eyes as he visualized the scenario.

"Aah, the heat is getting to me. Does anyone have any water I can drink?" Mirim exclaimed holding a hand to her forehead dramatically as if she was about to pass out. It did not even take the blonde cook a second before he was by her side with his waterskin.

"Here Mirim! Have some of mine!" He said with a dark, gentlemanly voice and handed her the waterskin.

"Thank you, Sanji." She smiled and took a sip before handing it back to him. Truth to be told, she hadn't really been all that thirsty but it was refreshing to feel the cool liquid soak her parched throat. Then, just for the fun of it, her smile turned seductive and she grazed her hand over his cheek. "Thank you so very, very much." She murmured leaving him in a puddle of his own drool. It kind of angered Ace that she would play around like that with Sanji though he didn't know why. He wasn't jealous or anything for there was no reason for him to feel such an emotion.

'_Must be the heat.'_ He thought. "Something wrong?" Mirim asked and he shook his head.

"It's only the heat getting to me." He muttered and she nodded. "It _is_ getting unbearable." They walked in a comfortable silence until Nami asked Vivi about the Rebel Army.

"I guess I should tell you about the Rebel Army." Vivi nodded. "Eleven years ago, when I was a child, a boy came to my father and asked for rain for his village. The boy's name was Kohza. Though father couldn't do anything to help he offered both Kohza and his father to stay in the palace for a while. Kohza's father was happy but Kohza was not." She paused in her story telling as she remembered that day it all began.

"Vivi?" Nami asked and shook the princess out of her thoughts. The blue haired princess smiled apologetically at Nami and the others.

"Sorry. Kohza only wanted to help his village, not himself so of course he was angry when my father offered to house his family instead of helping the village. When I met him… we fought." She giggled. "But after that we became good friends. He was the leader of the Suna Suna Clan as they called themselves at that time and I became the sub-leader because I almost beat him in our second fight. We had so much fun until one day…"

"What happened?" Nami asked. "Bandits happened. They wanted to kidnap me to get a ransom. Kohza and the others wouldn't have any of it and attacked with sticks and clubs, telling me to run. I didn't want to but I had no choice. Everyone was beaten badly."

"What happened then?" Usopp asked. Vivi had everyone's attention as she told them the tale until suddenly Luffy saw something in the sand. He hurried over to it and poked whatever it was with a stick.

"Oh! What's this?" He yelled excitedly. Mirim turned her head to look at the captain who was being left behind before pausing.

"Commander, ain't that the tail of a scorpion?" She asked slowly and Ace also glanced over. "Bugger…" Suddenly the sand beneath the pirate captain trembled and he was pushed up as sand and dust gathered in the air, obscuring everyone's vision. As the dust cleared they could see that Luffy had indeed been poking the stinger of a scorpion.

"Wow!" The rubber man exclaimed; his expression showing his excitement. "This isn't the time!" Mirim and Ace yelled simultaneously as the scorpion readied its stinger but the crew was faster. Before it could attack Zoro, Sanji and Chopper charged at it and began to fight it.

"Ah, to hell with it! I want to too!" Mirim exclaimed and joined the brawl stabbing the scorpion in the eye with one of her knives. This caused it great pain and it roared, swiping after everyone with its tail. Mirim was the only one who did not dodge the attack and was swept up as she grabbed a hold of the tail to avoid being flung away.

"_Whoa!_" She cried out and clung to it for dear life. Ace tipped his hat back and smirked in amusement. This group of misfits knew how to make a show that was for sure. Meanwhile Usopp ran back and forth, completely terrified of the creature and the fighting.

"Mirim! I'll save you!" Sanji called out. "Save me? I'm having the time of my life!" The Whitebeard pirate yelled back happily. She had never ridden a scorpion before. She had come across many sea king's that had happily given her a ride, after being persuaded of course but she had never been in a desert and she had never encountered a scorpion except for the one Ace had fried.

No one noticed that Vivi and Nami continued the trek, leaving them behind as the princess relayed the rest of the story. "They almost caught me and Kohza could have lost his life if not for Igaram and my father showing up in the nick of time. After that day, we parted ways. Kozha went to another village that father had given them while I stayed behind to become a princess."

"I understand. This friend of yours was a good guy." Nami could understand that, but she couldn't connect the story to the Rebel Army. It felt good to know that Vivi trusted them enough to tell them about her childhood but she had asked about the Rebel Army. What was the connection between Kozha and the army? "The leader of the Rebel Army is Kozha." Vivi replied silently causing Nami to gasp.

"Seriously?" Vivi nodded. "That's why I have to talk to him. I have to tell him everything about Crocodile and Baroque Works. I have to stop the Rebel Army from clashing with the Royal Army. Do you know how many lives will be lost if I can't stop it?" Just then Sanji ran up to them with a scorpion claw.

"Nami! Viv! Do you want some?"

"Mm, this desert shrimp is good!" Luffy exclaimed through a mouthful before Usopp pushed him. "It's a desert scorpion, not a shrimp!" He declared and Luffy fell over the remains of the scorpion they had killed causing the others to laugh.

"Waah, I can't eat any more!"

"That's a relief, you eat more than one person should be able to. Where do you put the stuff anyway?" Mirim poked his stomach.

"_I can't believe you guys! Quit screwing around! Eyelash, we're leaving!"_ Nami yelled angrily and the camel did as ordered to, leaving the others behind.

"What's up with her?" Luffy asked tiredly and Mirim shrugged. "Well, if any of you had paid attention to Vivi's story then maybe, and this is just a hunch boys, they wouldn't have been angry at you."

"You didn't pay any attention either, did you?" Ace whispered in her ear so the others wouldn't hear.

"I was a bit preoccupied with _not _being thrown off. In case you didn't notice, I was riding its tail." She defended herself before giggling. It had been fun.

"Yeah! That was so cool! I wanted to do that!" Everyone just shook their heads at Luffy's comment as he glared at the green haired girl. "Tell you what; the next time we find one, you can do that, alright?" Mirim tried to placate him and he clapped his hands together.

"Yeah!" Then he grabbed a stick and began poking everything he came across.

"He does realize that not everything is an easily provoked scorpion right?" Mirim asked her Commander who just laughed. "Yeah, yeah. He's just very excited though I doubt he'll find any more for a while." Suddenly the boy disappeared behind a sand hill and the others waited for him, knowing that if they continued on he would get lost and that would not bode well for his crew. After a few minutes Mirim began to grow impatient.

"He's being incredibly slow."

"It's only been a minute or two." Ace raised an eyebrow at her childish impatience. "It's been six! I counted!" He blinked.

"Seriously?" She scowled at him before the ground began shaking. "What's that sound?" Ace asked and looked around with the others. It sounded like something was trampling the ground with heavy steps. Everyone looked around, with the exception of Vivi and Nami who had already left them behind, before they realized that it came from where Luffy had disappeared to.

"Don't tell me-" Usopp began but Luffy jumped over the hill and rolled down to them, laughing loudly, before he could finish the sentence.

"Now there's enough for all of us!"

"Are you kidding-" The female Whitebeard pirate began but was interrupted by the roars of six new scorpions thundering over the hill and towards them. "… You're not..."

"_LUFFY!" _

"_GET A HOLD OF YOUR STUPID BROTHER, YOU MORON! _" Mirim screamed as she dodged the stingers. "_OR I'LL MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN IN THE FUTURE!" _

"_Don't blame this on me! And don't threaten _that_ area!" _Ace yelled back. It was _not_ his fault that Luffy couldn't comprehend the danger as anything else but a game.


	9. Chapter 9

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

After giving Luffy a good old beating because of the scorpions, the party ventured on. Fortunately for them the wind had not picked up while they had been fighting and therefore the hoof prints of Eyelash were still visible. This time they didn't get lost while trailing after the girls but by the time they caught up to them the sun had begun to set, therefore they also decided to set up camp for the night.

"And if I hear any yelling tomorrow morning, I'll kill you." Mirim threatened, and gained several terrified nods from the Straw Hats, who had by now learned all too well how she was not a morning person, before lying down and falling asleep at once.

"I'm sorry, she's cranky when it comes to sleep." Ace apologized for the hundredth time since they began their trek throughout the desert.

"We noticed." The crew replied and he sweatdropped. "Yeah, sorry." He apologized again before also lying down and falling asleep. The next morning Mirim was not rudely forced to wake up to yelling. Rather she was being shaken gently as someone coaxed her to wake up. To her it was all the same. No one interrupted her sleep, with the exception of Whitebeard.

"Oi, wake up." She opened her eyes to give whoever was waking her up a good beating and stared at Ace who was a little bit too close for comfort. With a yell she started the day by dealing her superior an uppercut. As he flew backwards the others started laughing at him. "Fuck! I'm sorry Commander, I'm really, really sorry!" She yelled as she tried to shake him back to consciousness though it didn't make matters any better for the swirly eyed Commander.

"Hah! Ace got owned by a girl!" Luffy rolled around on the ground laughing at his poor brother. She waved her hand and the rubber man was buried beneath a pile of sand. Spluttering he emerged from the sand and spit out as much as he could.

"What was that?" The girl shrugged innocently. "Probably a gust of wind." She answered as Ace began to stir.

"Are you alright?" She asked "I learned something new today." She leaned in and turned her head so her ear was just above his mouth to better hear what he was saying.

"Never wake you up unless I'm a safe distance away from you." Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance and she raised her fist.

_Bonk_

"Ouch!"

"Moron!" She stuck out her tongue. The commander rubbed the bump on his head before pointing at a plate filled with food which he thankfully had put down before getting to the task of waking her up.

"This was why I woke you up by the way." She nodded in thanks before noticing that this morning was not as hot as the others. The sun seemed to give them an easy start before they would continue on. She shrugged out of her coat and followed her commander up on a rock in the shade before she began to eat. When they were almost finished Mirim looked around in suspicion.

"What is it?" Ace asked with his mouth full. "I feel like we're being watched… it creeps me out." She replied before glancing down at Luffy, Zoro and Sanji who began fighting over the food. Apparently Luffy and Usopp was not satisfied with their portion and wanted more but Sanji denied them a second helping therefore Luffy stole from Zoro.

"Was he like this when you were kids too?" She asked and Ace grinned sheepishly. "Every meal." He replied though he seemed to find contentment at the sight. She really wondered how their childhood had been. Both of them were monstrously strong.

"Why does every meal turn out like this?" Vivi asked depressed. Nami had long since grown used to their banter and closed her eyes as she ate. "Don't look at them." She said. Vivi turned her eyes towards the two Whitebeard Pirates to see if they also thought the Straw Hat crew's arguing was tiresome but it seemed like the two didn't pay the crew any mind.

"Look. Ace has finished eating and he's cleaning his fork and plate." The blue haired princess whispered to the navigator who looked up as Ace began cleaning Mirim's utensil and plate as well.

"You're right. He sure is different from his moronic younger brother. It almost makes me think there is hope for Luffy." Nami sighed as they turned their attention back to the four fighting over food. _'… Maybe not.'_

"But with his good manners you'd never suspect that he has such an incredible bounty on his head."

"Ace has a bounty?" Vivi exclaimed? She knew that he was a pirate but she didn't know that he had a bounty on him. The last two years she had been a spy in Baroque Works and therefore, instead of focusing on the bounties, she had tried to gather information about the leader of the organization and their goals. Even before Baroque Works she had never bothered with checking the wanted lists.

"I think someone said that it was enough to make bounty hunters over the whole world hell bent on catching him." Nami said as she thought back to her thieving days. "Member of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fire Fist Ace. Apparently hearing that name makes pirates everywhere tremble and since both Ace and Mirim, who also has such a high bounty, is searching for this Blackbeard character, he must be quite a vicious pirate."

"Blackbeard." She mused to herself. She couldn't remember ever hearing about him before the Kingdom of Drum. "A man who killed a comrade and becoming a traitor… It looks like they plan on hunting him down to the end of the world. Rather sad isn't it?"

"Nami?" Vivi whispered, gaining the navigator's attention again. "Don't you think they look cute together?" She asked and secretly pointed at the two Whitebeard Pirates. Nami turned and saw Mirim playfully punch Ace in the shoulder which resulted in him tickling her side causing her to fall on her back with him following to continue the torture. The girl had always been extremely ticklish so she begged for mercy almost at once.

"Bastard." They could hear her say as she managed to regain her breath. "That's cheating." She punched him in the shoulder again and he raised his arm causing her to slide out of reach. She stuck her tongue out at him childishly and he laughed at her.

"Now that you mention it, they do. And they do look really comfortable together too. I wonder how long they've been in the same crew." Suddenly Mirim began staring at them and the two girls felt as though they were busted. Smiling nervously they went back to their own food.

"Whoa! Awesome! The meat is talking _and_ running away!" Luffy suddenly yelled and ran off.

"… He's got that from you, right?" Mirim asked Ace and he dragged his palm over his face. "Shut up Mirim… just shut up." Ace jumped off the rock and followed the trail of the thieves with Mirim right behind him. Unlike Luffy, who ran in the opposite direction and disappeared, the two found the thieves quickly. It was two children, boys, who shared the meat they had stolen.

"Is it good Chip? Our first meal in ten days." Now that surprised Mirim. _'How the hell could those two survive without food?'_ She thought. She had never encountered the danger known as starvation but she could see how thin the two were. They were nothing more than skin and bones, their eyes were tired but their skin still managed to look healthy, or as far as she could see their skin had not sunk in around their eyes and cheeks.

"We never had any meat out in the badlands." The older of the two said as he also took a bite of the meat.

"The badlands, eh. So that's where the two of you are from, huh?" Ace's amused voice rang out. Immediately the two children turned towards the two pirates, and they trembled terribly, horrified at being caught. Ace squatted down; staring at them with Mirim casually resting both forearms on his shoulders, all the while smiling warmly down at the children which contrasted the commander's facial expression during his next sentence.

"Smells good, you enjoying it?" The man's voice was no longer amused but cold, detached.

"Who're you?!" The older boy yelled while pushing his younger brother behind him. "We won't give you back the food!" Chip yelled frightened which did nothing to ease Ace's cold stare.

"Take it easy. They're just kids." Mirim warned him but paused when the oldest pulled out a gun and pointed it at them. "One move and you're a dead man!" He threatened but his trembling voice and body drained any danger from the threat. Mirim though, straightened up in shock. Not because he threatened them but because he had a gun.

'_Kids with guns? What the hell?'_ She had never encountered that before. She never thought she would. Ace chuckled darkly causing the boy to take half a step back.

"As a general rule I'm not fond of people pointing guns at my face." He smirked wickedly and Mirim also looked down at them with cold eyes now. Even if he was just a kid, if he didn't lower it soon she would wrestle it out of his hands and shake some sense into him.

"Dip! Have you really shot it before?" Chip asked weakly from behind his brother. "Is the bullet really going to come out?"

"H-how would I know?!" The older brother replied hysterically. Obviously he had never fired a shot before. "W-wait I'll just-" The boy pulled the trigger just as Chip threw himself at his brother and messed up the aim but it was now aiming at the girl, not Ace. Quickly Ace threw a rock he had picked up earlier and deflected the bullet with it as Mirim only stared.

'_Alright… deep breath… it's just a kid… count to ten.'_

"You're playing a dangerous game kid." Ace said as he towered over the two boys. "Never draw on someone unless you can hit your mark." He said coolly. The siblings huddled together under his harsh eyes.

"He let go of the gun, calm down." Mirim hissed. "I will not stand idly by as someone aims a gun at my subordinate."

"It's. Just. A. _Kid_." She spelled out but before more could be said the rest of the Straw Hat crew appeared. They had heard the gunshot and had rushed towards the location where Ace and Mirim stood.

"Who're they?" Usopp asked but before any introductions could be made the older of the two, Dip, rushed up to the stone the Whitebeard pirates stood upon and begged them to find a man that they were looking for. He handed Ace a picture and told him that if he could find him the boys would pay him 1,000,000 beri.

"You don't seem the type to have that amount of money, boy." Mirim raised an eyebrow at the kid who looked down at the ground. "I don't have the money now, but when I grow up I promise I'll pay you!" She snorted but still crouched down to look at the picture Ace was holding.

"So, why do you want us to catch him?"

"My brother and I followed him all the way from the badlands." The crew listened to the children's story as they told of their journey. Ace was quite surprised to hear that they had undertaken the journey alone to look for this man but thought himself lucky that there was someone who could possibly know where the man was.

"We need more details. What's his name?" Usopp asked the boys. "Scorpion, he's a bounty hunter."

"Why on earth are you two following a bounty hunter?" Nami raised an eyebrow and the siblings looked to the ground, saddened by something.

"We've got business with this guy as well." Ace said out of nowhere. "There was a rumor of a man who defeated Blackbeard. He's supposedly in Yuba and his name is Scorpion." Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"The only reason we're headed to Yuba is to find this guy. If he really did defeat Blackbeard he may know where he is or his intentions. It's one of the few leads we have." Mirim explained as she frowned at the picture. He didn't really look all that strong, but then again, one shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

"But Ace, do you really think this Scorpion guy managed to defeat Blackbeard?" Usopp asked. The more he looked at the picture of the bounty hunter, the more he doubted it. "I'm not sure. The only way to find out is to meet him face to face." Ace drawled and gave the picture back to the boys.

"Ace? As in Fire Fist Ace?" The boys exclaimed. "Something's coming." Mirim said and Ace nodded.

"Two men… and a bird." He muttered. Boisterous laughter could be heard and not even a minute later the very man they had been discussing appeared on top of the sand hill with none other than Luffy sitting behind him.

"There you are, Fire Fist Ace! And Death God Mirim as well! This is my lucky day!" Scorpion exclaimed. "I am Scorpion! The indomitable hero! I have traveled from afar to challenge you. This will be a true battle!" He yelled triumphantly. He seemed to be a very boisterous character.

"That's Scorpion?"

"Yo! Everyone is here!" Luffy exclaimed as he stood up from behind Scorpion.

"Luffy!" The whole crew yelled exasperated. Ace however, smirked coolly at Scorpion. Mirim herself had a sinister expression on her face and the bounty hunter suddenly became nervous. He swallowed loudly.

"Too bad for you, I'm lucky in a fight! Your days of roaring bravely on the seas end today!" He shouted to cover his sudden nervousness and Mirim raised an eyebrow.

"Lucky in a fight? I thought skill was something to be more proud of." She crossed her arms with a snort. Ace nodded. "So did I."

"Ace! This is a true battle! Don't pull any punches!" Luffy called and Ace growled. "I wasn't planning to! Now get out of the way Luffy! I've got some questions for him!" Luffy only continued to smile but jumped off the ostrich Scorpion was riding and waited for the fight to begin.

'_He seems nervous, frightened even. I can't believe he fought and beat Teach. He doesn't seem to be very powerful either. Give up and go home now geezer. You can't be an idiot and face the Commander.'_ Mirim thought as she analyzed the bounty hunter.

"Here I come, Fire Fist Ace!" The man declared and charged towards them, pulling out what seemed to be a rocket launcher.

'_On second thought…'_ Mirim almost fell over as Ace leaped over the rest of them so he wouldn't drag them into the fight.

"Take this!" The bounty hunter yelled and shot a net made of iron at Ace who deflected it with his fire. The net flew back, now scorching hot, and captured its owner instead. With a series of smoking wounds Scorpion slowly managed to get up on his feet again. "I guess I should be thankful. If defeating you would be so easy it wouldn't be much of a victory!" He laughed.

"Oh, you're still getting up?" Ace smirked. He was amused by this person, this bounty hunter, and enjoyed this little fight of theirs. Mirim though was tapping her feet impatiently. _'He can't have defeated Teach! There's no way… I won't believe it.'_ She thought. She would not believe that this bounty hunter had defeated her former comrade by simply throwing an iron net at him.

"The Fight of Hell starts now!" Scorpion declared confidently. "Popo! My Prescoracci Rifle!" He yelled and the ostrich came running over with a tiny tube that the man aimed at Ace.

"Pressurized Corrosive Acid Rifle!" The man yelled. "With this I'll shoot pressurized acid into your body!" He charged forward and pulled the trigger, bullets of acid charging towards Ace who still had not lost his smirk. The young Commander leaped over Scorpion so as not to endanger the others who had been behind him. As he soared over the bounty hunter he saw that the rock he had been standing in front of had crumbled into bits. Once he landed he charged towards Scorpion, dodging each shot and punched the man in his stomach, hard. The man dropped his weapon and clutched the wounded area, stumbling forward and falling into the pit behind Ace.

"It was a nice try but you never stood a chance my friend." Usopp shrugged in the background. "I suspected as much. You lied about beating Blackbeard didn't you? You figured using his name would drag me and Mirim out in the open, am I right?" Ace questioned though he already knew the answer.

"Exactly. Not a bad idea was it" Scorpion chuckled. "We've been evenly matched until now. It's time for me to get serious!" He grabbed his bazooka and aimed it at the freckled pirate.

"Don't waste your breath. You've been serious from the beginning." Mirim appeared beside Ace. "You're a false lead and we've got no time to waste on you and your toys. If you want to continue I'll finish you off myself right now." Ace glanced towards Mirim. She was an impatient person, that was true, but she was not cruel. Whatever caused this sudden violent behavior towards someone who couldn't hope to defeat them, he didn't know. What he _did _know was that it was uncharacteristic of her.

"That's enough! That's enough, dad!" The two children from the badlands ran straight past them and down to Scorpion. "You're no match for him! That's Fire Fist Ace!"

"At least the kids got a brain each that's working." Mirim snorted and Ace chuckled. "Ahem!" She cleared her throat to gain the family's attention.

"This family reunion is sweet and all that shit but since you _don't_ have any info on Blackbeard, we're leaving. Get back to your farm or whatever and give up being a bounty hunter before you encounter someone who's not as nice as my Commander here or you'll end up dead and your kids orphaned." Mirim said and turned on her heal.

"Mirim! How can you say something like that?" Nami exclaimed angrily as Mirim stalked past them all, ignoring the stares. A loud boom sounded and she turned around sharply, seeing the stone pillar behind Scorpion and his children crumble and fall over them. Before anyone could blink she stood in front of the family and held her hands out.

"Mirim!" Ace yelled, truly concerned this time but Mirim had not just jumped into danger without thought.

"Kaze!" She shouted and from her palms and a powerful tornado appeared, keeping the rocks in place above them before slowly pushing them away but it was a slow and heavy process. A mere wind could not keep the heavy boulders at bay for long. A _tiny_ flaw in her plan.

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed, amazed and excited. He had never seen such a thing before. "What is that?" Nami yelled as she covered her eyes to avoid having sand blown into them as the sand made it hard to see.

"It must be some kind of Devil Fruit power!" Zoro yelled as he began to gather everyone in the group, except for one person whom they couldn't find.

Mirim began to tire. Normally it wouldn't be hard for her to create a tornado but the rocks were heavy and she couldn't keep them all up since it seemed like they weighed more for each second that ticked by. Her arms throbbed and she fell back, the tornado disappearing. She was exhausted.

'_I should have used another element… but there's no water here and I can't conjure up earth out of nowhere either.'_ She thought as the rocks began to descend again. They didn't come too close though because Ace called upon his own power and blew most of the rocks away but there were still some that fell down upon the four beneath the pillar though none hit them. Ace slid down the slope and ran over to Mirim, grabbing her shoulders.

"You alright?" He was borderline hysterical as he looked her over to make sure she was unharmed. She nodded as she stared at him.

"Y-yeah… calm down, I'm fine." The Straw Hat crew had made their way over to Scorpion and his sons to check on them. They were alright as well.

"Commander, are _you_ alright?" Mirim asked. Ace had not stopped shaking after he found her and she wondered if he had exhausted himself. "I'm fine." He reassured her with a smile.

"I'm fine. I was just afraid you had been hurt." The sound of skin hitting skin echoed in the desert and everyone turned to see Ace sitting on the ground, blinking rapidly as a red mark appeared on his cheek. In front of him Mirim kneeled, glaring at him.

"What the hell do you mean _afraid that I was hurt?_ I'm a Whitebeard Pirate, I can take care of myself! Don't you go all knight-in-shining-armor on me! It's supposed to be _my_ job protecting _you._" She hissed. "The division can't function properly without a Commander, that's why there's Lieutenants to protect them and-" she trailed off and fell forward, her next words muffled by his shoulder as she fainted.

"Yeah yeah." He sighed as he stroked her hair gently. "But I think it should be the other way around." With a grin he hoisted her over his shoulder and went over to the others while assuring them that she was alright.

"She'll probably be out for a while. Now, since our lead was false, we're not going to Yuba." This met a lot of protest from the Straw Hats.

Mirim had woken up halfway through the day. Ace sat with the others, learning of their plans and the like. She wondered if they had carried her on the way before taking a break but quickly noticed that they had not moved at all. They were in the same outcropping they had spent the night in.

"We've been here all day?" She asked, rubbing her eyes as she walked up to them. "Well, you fainted." Nami shrugged with a grin and Mirim huffed.

"You could have woken me up." She said and everyone stared.

"Mirim is scary." Chopper said.

"Mirim is very scary when woken up." Usopp agreed.

"She's just cranky." Ace said and she kicked him in the arm, hard. "Totally worth it." He said from his place on the ground. "Asshole." She kicked him a few more times for good measure before turning to Sanji.

"Sanji! I'm hungry!"

"Right away, Mirim!" He called and found her a plate and began to fill it with food. "And don't give anything to this idiot here!"

"Alright!"

"Hey!" Ace yelled and abruptly got up on his feet. "What the hell?"

"This is called being punished!"

"For what?"

"For being inconsiderate towards women, isn't that right Sanji?" Mirim called over her shoulder, glaring at Ace. "That's right, Mirim!"

"What do you mean women, it was only you!" Ace threw his hands up in the air and she laughed triumphantly. "A-hah! You admit that you were inconsiderate!"

"Do you even know what it means?"

"You wanna fight?" She growled and pulled off her coat. "Bring it on!" He did the same and cracked his knuckles.

"Cut it out!" Nami got in between and hit them over the head. "I don't want another fight during a meal, is that understood?" She was sick and tired of it. The two who had acted the most mature during the breakfast they had had were now being worse than Luffy and Usopp.

"Yes ma'am…" The two Whitebeard pirates mumbled and she turned with a satisfied nod. "And you say I'm scary?" Mirim whispered to the freckled man.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Ace whispered back.

**Innocence**

"Well then, we're heading out." Ace said and pulled his bag over his shoulder. Both Whitebeard Pirates grinned at the Straw Hat crew as the sun descended from the sky.

"Are you really leaving us, Ace?" Chopper asked sadly and Mirim bent down and patted his cheek. The young reindeer was way too cute for his own good. Too bad she couldn't take him with them. "Yep, seeing as it's confirmed that Blackbeard isn't in Alabasta there's no reason for us to stick around." The commander said with a shrug.

"Then Mirim can stay right?" Sanji asked hopefully though was crushed when Mirim shook her head. "I'm gonna follow the Commander for a bit longer before I head back home. A division can't function properly without someone in charge. And I bet the guys are slacking off right now without us there to keep charge."

"Where are you planning on going now?" Zoro asked Ace while Sanji lay on the ground sulking. Meanwhile Mirim was having fun by tickling the little reindeer. He was awfully ticklish.

"Scorpion told me some guy in the West saw him so I'm gonna try looking there. By the way Luffy, catch." Ace said as he threw his younger brother a piece of paper. Luffy opened it and stared at it, puzzled. "Do yourself a favor and hang on to that."

"What? It's just a scrap of paper." Luffy said, sounding disappointed.

"That scrap of paper will let us meet again." His words were met with silence. "Don't want it?" Ace smirked.

"No, I do." Luffy said and folded it before stuffing it in his own pocket.

"Hoo, you gave him _that_ paper, eh?" Mirim waggled her eyebrows, causing the others much confusion, and Ace shrugged. "It's perfectly natural for a guy to be worried about his bumbling kid brother right?" He defended himself, sounding almost embarrassed that he was worried about Luffy.

"He'll probably continue to burn your hands too." He told the crew. "Please take care of him for me." They all laughed and nodded. Yes, their captain would always be a pain, and he would also probably keep having his selfish whims every now and then but that was what made him into Luffy and that was why they followed him.

"The next time we meet will be at the Pirates Summit."

"Okay!" Luffy exclaimed as Ace pointed to the sky. "Come to the top."

"I think we're crossing the border from a cheerful parting to a long tearful farewell." Mirim joked before they heard Dip and Chip yell out from behind them. They all turned and saw Scorpion and his family leaving them behind. When the crew turned back, the two Whitebeard Pirates were long gone.

* * *

Kaze - Wind


	10. Chapter 10

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

Riding Ace's striker, the two pirates had been out on the open sea for days and Mirim was quickly becoming bored.

"This is boooooring." She let out a breath of air as she crossed her arms behind her head, resting on the tip of the tip of the raft.

"If you're so easily bored you shouldn't have come with me." Ace sighed and she pouted. "I just needed to make sure you wouldn't have a narcoleptic fit while steering this thing." She said and he rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't happen _that_ often."

"It happens often enough!" She gave him a stern glare and he rolled his eyes again. "You're too much of a worry-wart. Try to relax once in a while."

"It's because of you I can't relax." She muttered and turned onto her stomach and stared down at the ocean. Because of the speed they were travelling and the slightly rough waves she couldn't see anything and she sighed again.

'_Boring…'_

"Return to pops if it's so boring." Ace snapped after her tenth sigh and she flailed her arms and legs. "I don't wanna!" Ace laughed loudly at the sight of her childish reaction to his words and she glared at him before she started to laugh herself.

"I do want to go back, really. But I'm not sure about leaving you by yourself." She admitted after a while. "I've spent my whole life on that ship… I've rarely been away from the Moby Dick for so long so I'm getting a little homesick."

"I'll be fine. I've been on my own before." Ace shrugged. The day he set sail from his home island he had been alone, he had actually been travelling alone for over two weeks before he found his first-mate, not to mention his life with the mountain bandits before Sabo and Luffy came along. Sailing alone to find Blackbeard would be no different with the exception that he wasn't looking for crewmates, he was hunting a traitor.

"It's Tea-Blackbeard we're talking about. He was strong, and if he ate Thatch-nii's Devil Fruit he'll be even stronger. I'm worried." She caught herself from calling Teach by his first name and brother and Ace noticed it but didn't comment on it. He could understand that to her, who had known Teach her whole life, it could be hard to kill the habit of calling him her brother. She also knew him much better than him and he would acknowledge that Blackbeard had been a strong pirate without an ability but he was still a traitor that needed to be dealt with.

"He was strong, and I'm sure he's stronger now, but I _will_ avenge Thatch's death, no matter what."

"I understand that. I want that too, but don't underestimate Teach!"

"Blackbeard." Ace said sharply and she froze. "… Blackbeard." She repeated.

"Don't underestimate Blackbeard." She amended her sentence and he nodded. "I won't."

"Promise?" He nodded again. "I promise." She seemed to brighten as he said this and he had to smile. She was like a child sometimes but he guessed that being raised by a party-loving pirate crew from the very beginning must have done something to preserve her playfulness. They traveled in silence for a few hours more before Ace slowed down.

"What's wrong?" She asked and turned to him. She sweat dropped as he sniffed the air like a dog. "I smell food. And I'm hungry." She would have to agree on that. They hadn't eaten much that morning, or all day actually, and she felt hunger gnaw at her stomach as well.

"Lead the way then." She said and he snorted. "I'm the only one out of the two of us who can control the Striker."

"That's why I'm telling you to lead the way." She retorted with a snort herself and he shook his head. "Unbelievable." With a flick of her wrist a spray of water hit him in the face. Sputtering and cursing he rubbed the salt water off of his face.

"Ops, I slipped." She said innocently as he glared. "I should chuck you off right now-"

"Do it and I'll drown you." She warned. Although he knew she wouldn't literally drown him he knew she could find it in her to throw him overboard just for the heck of it before pulling him aboard again. He decided to wisely keep himself in check and find out where the mouthwatering aroma came from instead. She flashed him the victory sign and he stubbornly looked anywhere but her, causing her to giggle.

"I win, eh."

"Shut up." They soon sighted a ship and stopped to tie the Striker to it. They soon realized that it was a pirate ship and that the pirates were partying. Deciding to obey their growling stomachs they joined the fray and began to eat and drink to their hearts content. The captain mentioned Luffy, saying something along the lines that they would find him later to a beautiful woman who seemed to refuse to join in on the festivities. Her expression was stern as she talked about Luffy and their search for him.

"If you're looking for Luffy, I know where he is." Ace said offhandedly and Mirim grinned. The pirates hadn't noticed them before Ace spoke and the captain's slow reaction was hilarious. Ace jumped up on his feet and bowed as the captain demanded that they gave up their names.

"Sorry for crashing your party, but we simply couldn't resist the delicious aroma of your feast. My name is Portgas D. Ace, but you can call me Ace. This is Mirim." He gestured to her. At first the captain of the crew laughed but then some sort of realization dawned upon him as Ace took a bite of a piece of meat. Everyone could practically hear something snap within his head.

"I mean what are you doing here, you idiot? I couldn't care less about what your names are Mr. Portgas D. Ace!"

"C-captain! This is the one!" One of his crew-members stammered. "He's _the_ Fire Fist Ace, Commander of the Second Division of the Whitebeard Pirates!" Everyone gasped and stared at the two of them wide-eyed.

"Aah, so you know the old man, what a nice-" Ace began but was interrupted by his own snore before he fell asleep, falling backwards with his arms and legs stretched out.

'_Doesn't happen often my ass.'_ Mirim stared at him darkly. How could he fall asleep on a pirate ship of someone whom they didn't know was enemy or friend? It was way too careless of him. This was also one of the reasons she had followed him.

"Captain, this is our chance! If we take him out-" She tensed, hands reaching for her daggers.

"No!" Their captain cut off his subordinate sharply. "Why not? Captain, this can be our only chance! If we can take out Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates we'll be famous!"

'_Hello? I'm still here?'_ Mirim thought as she watched their argument in amusement. Ace may have fallen asleep but she was as awake as a kid high on caffeine. And she was confident she could take them out without a sweat if they decided to turn unfriendly.

"I said no! Remember this, men, and remember it flashily! This will be the most important lesson you'll ever learn! Never, and I mean _never_, mess with a member of Whitebeard's crew. Whitebeard is a killer, born and bred, and the only man who could go toe to toe with Gold Roger, the king of the pirates! He is without a doubt the strongest pirate alive and the one closest to One Piece." The captain praised the man.

"He's not a born killer." Mirim muttered, somehow insulted with how this clown-like captain described her captain. "But he's definitively the strongest pirate alive." She told one of the crew-members who nodded sagely.

"Really? Well, I've heard rumors. He is strong and so is his crew."

"Oh yeah, they're strong. They're like monsters. I'm the Lieutenant of the Second Division." Mirim told him and he nodded again. "Ah, so there are women in the crew who are monsters as well?"

"Yup." Suddenly the man realized who he was talking to and his eyes bulged out of their sockets but she held a finger up to her lips and winked at him. "Even if we managed to kill Fire Fist Ace while he sleeps Whitebeard would avenge the death of his own with the fury of a thunderstorm!"

"You seem to know a lot about this Whitebeard." The dark haired beauty of the crew said suspiciously. "It was in the Grand Line, years ago, I met the man face to face and I've never been the same since."

"Oh sorry about that, I must have dozed off." Ace apologized as he continued to eat after waking up as sudden as he had fallen asleep. "What the- he woke up!" The crew yelled and Mirim laughed loudly.

"Commander, we really _do_ need to cure this narcolepsy of yours." If not for him being a lot safer, then for her mental health.

'_If it wasn't for their captain actually knowing so much about pops they would have killed you in your sleep, retard.'_ She thought with a shake of her head. Ace got up on his feet and waved his arms. "Hey, what's with the long faces everyone? I thought this was a party, am I right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Their captain turned away from Ace, his expression slightly forced and terrified. "Men, commence having fun again!" Immediately they did as ordered and after a few minutes their fear of Whitebeard melted away as they chugged down rum and ate. Ace joined in on their acrobatics causing them to laugh louder and Mirim had to admit that it had been a long time since she had been participating in a real party. It was fun.

"Hah! Ace, you sure know how to have a good time!" Their captain laughed and Ace joined in until he noticed the giant lion on the ship.

"Oh, you guys got a lion?!" He sounded like a kid who received the present he wanted on his birthday. Using his ability he created a ring of fire. "Be a good kitty and jump through this flaming hoop on two legs!" The lion did as told and jumped through the hoop, much to Ace's pleasure.

"Now, try two hoops!" And he kept increasing them as the lion managed each and every trial the freckled pirate conjured up.

"You do know how to have a good time!" Mirim sat down beside the captain. "It's been ages since I've been at a good party! Thanks for letting us join in."

"Oh, it's no prob-" The captain turned towards her as he drank but spit it all out in her face and she blinked.

'_He didn't!'_ She looked down on herself. _'He did…'_ She was about to ask why he had spit all the rum on her, in a very violent manner too, when he exclaimed a name she had only heard from Whitebeard and her brothers.

"M-M-Maya?!" In a heartbeat Mirim had grabbed the pirate captain by his collar and pulled him close. "You'd better talk fast, buddy, and it better be good. What do you know about Maya?" She growled and the man stared for a while longer before unhooking himself.

"I see, you're her little brat."

"Oh, you didn't-"

"Maya was a friend of my former captain. That's all there is to it." The captain grumbled and looked to the sky, almost wistful. "One heavy drinker, she could drink all of the crew to the ground, well except for the captain and first-mate. She was tough, never going easy on anyone, especially not anyone who owed her money, like the captain did. I heard that he had promised her half of whatever treasures he came across on his first raid. She never picked it up in one go so she came back every now and then to collect the debt."

"Is there a point to this?" Mirim asked and he shot her a glare. "I'm getting to it, calm down."

"Where was I, oh yes. Maya was never a part of the crew, which she stated every time she visited when my captain would hold a party for celebrating one of the members returning from a trip. She beat him up for it every time." The captain laughed and Mirim found herself oddly calm. This man knew her mother, and he talked about her with such a happy expression, with reverence, and respect. It was nice to know that Whitebeard wasn't just saying nice things about her mother so she could feel good as well. Maya had been a good woman.

"But she was a good woman, and even though she wasn't a crew-member she was family, I guess you could say. Helped us out if we were in trouble, that power of hers was incredible I would say. You got that power too?" She nodded slowly. This guy had acted like a fool when they had boarded but she guessed everyone had their moments.

"Yeah. Alright, buddy, you're a good guy. Cheers!" She lifted her cup and he bumped his with hers. "My name is Buggy, not buddy." She blinked at him. There wasn't that much difference.

"Seriously?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snapped and she laughed while shaking her head. "Nothing. Cheers, Captain Buggy!" And she joined in on a drinking game as the festivities continued on, showing that while she wasn't as experienced as her mother she still could drink a good deal many men under the table.

She woke up the next day, staring down at the water beneath the Striker as Ace steered his dinghy. "You're awake." He stated and she shushed him while covering her eyes.

"Shut up. Yer too loud." She groaned and he chuckled. "Hangover eh?"

"This isn't just a hangover." She grunted. It hurt her head to talk. She was sure she wasn't speaking loudly but her head thundered anyway. "It's the _mother_ of all hangovers." Ace shook his head with sigh.

"If you don't want to experience hangovers, then stop drinking." He said simply and she peeked at him from under her hands. "Commander, one does not simply turn away free drinks."

"Who taught you that 'golden' rule?" Ace asked and she turned around, blinking her eyes to adjust to the harsh sunlight.

"Pops did, of course. Then Marco-nii and Jozu-nii tried to make me unlearn it. Never worked."

"I've seen them try to stop you from drinking."

"And your verdict?"

"They fail miserably." The both of them burst out laughing before she groaned and rolled over. "Don't be so loud." The Commander said no more as they sailed on, the sound of the rolling waves soothing Mirim's throbbing head. The hours passed by and the nausea and headache left her. The sun was not as harsh as it had been earlier and now she enjoyed the tan she was getting.

"Stop lazing around." Ace suddenly said and she lifted her head to look at him before plopping back down. "What do you want me to do? There's not exactly much I can do on the Striker you know."

"Anything. Fetch me dinner." She turned sharply and glared. "I'm not a house-wife! If you're hungry then fetch your own food!"

"I'm steering the Striker!" He retorted. "And I'm still no house-wife!" They glared at each other before they laughed again.

"What was I thinking? _You_, make food?" Ace laughed and she nodded. "Yeah, what were you thinking?" Three seconds went by before she realized what she was saying.

"Hey!"

"You idiot!" He laughed louder and she pouted, crossed her arms and tried to ignore him but it was hard. He seemed to really enjoy making fun of her and her lips twitched upwards. At least he was having fun on this hunt. He didn't really suit being all gloomy and revenge-driven. His laughter soon died out and they journeyed on in a comfortable silence again until the sun descended and the moon took its place. They decided to rest the rest of the night since Ace was tired. He had been sailing for days without proper rest and so they found themselves both in the seat. Ace fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes but Mirim was kept awake for a bit longer. She stared at the cloudy sky and wondered if it would rain during the night.

She sincerely hoped _not_.

She turned her head to look at the snoring man beside her. He had taken his hat off and it rested on his chest. His hair covered half of his face and his freckles made him seem younger than he actually was when he slept.

'_It is kind of adorable.'_ She thought with a small smile before grabbing the orange hat. She lifted it up and noted that it was starting to look a bit worn out.

'_Well, he had it long before he joined pops.'_ She had to admit though that it was made of some sturdy material considering all the fights Ace had participated in, before and after joining Whitebeard. She sat up and stared down at the hat again, clutching the edges, tracing the smileys, the pearls that held them in place before reaching a decision. She glanced at Ace and put the hat back before lying down again. She welcomed the warmth he radiated as she fell asleep and dreamed of sweet nothingness.

For the first time during their voyage, Mirim was awake before Ace. The man woke up to seeing her standing on the peak of the raft, staring at the ocean. He sat up and was about to ask if something was wrong but she beat him to it.

"This is as far as I'm going with you, Commander." She said and he paused before getting to his feet, his hat firmly held in place on his head. "Alright. Glad you came with me this far though." He grinned, despite the sudden departure, and was even more surprised when the girl hugged him.

"Be careful okay? I don't want to lose another comrade." She murmured as she held on tightly. Ace blinked a few times, for it was a rare occurrence for Mirim to hug anyone but their captain, Marco orJozu, before settling his hands on her back and shoulder, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful. Tell pops I'll be back soon." The girl nodded but didn't relinquish her hold on him before a few moments later. She took a deep breath and walked over to the head of the Striker again. A gust of wind appeared out of nowhere; forcing Ace to hold onto his hat again and close his eyes and when he opened them, Mirim was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

If any of you ever dropped by on DA and saw the pic of Mirim and the others, then please leave a comment. I'm sure Nicka93 would like a few. Just throwing it out there, dear readers.

***Hugs for everyone***

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She could see the Moby Dick long before the crew noticed her. She swooped down head first but once she was right above the main mast she turned, her feet pointing to the ground, and floated down, landing securely on her feet.

"Mirim's returned!" One of the men serving in the Second Division called out and cheerful cries could be heard. "Where's Ace? Did you find Blackbeard? Did you get into any trouble?" Many called and swarmed her but she quickly held up her hands to show that she needed space before answering any of their questions.

"Alright, thanks."

"Where's Ace?" They asked again and she shrugged. "I left him a few days ago. We had just left Alabasta's borders actually."

"What were you doing all the way back there, oy?" Marco appeared and she spun around, hugging the man. "Marco-nii! I've missed you!" He chuckled and patted her head.

"Missed you too midget." She huffed, having despised the nickname since she was a child. She wasn't that short! … Well at least not anymore. "We were tracking a bounty hunter, if you must know. He claimed to have defeated Blackbeard so naturally we went in search for him. Turns out it was a false lead though."

"What bounty hunter, oy?" Marco asked. "He called himself Scorpion."

"Never heard of him, oy."

"Neither had I." They both laughed but then Marco turned serious again and pulled her with him away from the others. "Did you get any closer to finding Blackbeard?"

"Scorpion was a lead, but it was fake, so the Commander is actually just roaming around aimlessly searching for him, or he was when I left. There was a lead about Blackbeard being in the West though I left before we found any more. I don't know if he found any more leads on his whereabouts after that." Mirim explained and Marco nodded. "Blackbeard is good at staying hidden, we know that. He hid all that ambition while being a part of pops' crew for decades, oy. There's no wonder that Ace is having difficulty in pinpointing where he is."

"He can't hide forever." Mirim pointed out. "He's abandoned the crew and become a captain. He'll become famous soon enough and then there's nowhere to hide." Marco nodded. It was true. The world was large, and the Grand Line merciless, but there was nowhere to hide once anyone became famous. He then noticed how she couldn't stand still, and how her hand went up to repeatedly brush the hair out of her face. She only did that if she was nervous or embarrassed.

"It'll be alright." He said and ruffled her hair. She looked up at him beneath the messy green strands. "Believe in your Commander, oy. Don't worry about him." She pursed her lips. It was easy enough to say such words, it was harder to act upon them. She knew Ace was strong, incredibly so, but it still didn't make her feel any better. The hairs on her neck rose every time she thought about what could happen if Ace _did_ find Blackbeard. Something didn't feel right, and it unnerved her. Suddenly she regretted the decision of returning. She could have hauled out the time a bit more because no matter what Whitebeard had said about the division not being able to work without someone to lead, the Second Division, and any of the others as well, knew what their duty was.

"Yeah." She nodded after a while. "He knows what he's doing. You got any booze?" She asked and he raised an eyebrow. The question didn't really surprise him, Mirim was always looking out for an excuse to drink.

"It's the middle of the day, oy…"

"Never stopped you, did it?" Marco laughed before nodding. "Well, for once I won't try to stop you. If it can calm your nerves I'll join you, oy." She beamed up at him as he said this. A few nurses passed them by and gave them a warning glare causing the two to sheepishly rub the back of their heads. The nurses had taken to keeping check over how much alcohol was brought on board every time they restocked their supplies so they could keep the captain from drinking too much.

"Thanks, I missed drinking with you. By the way, you should have met this one pirate crew we came across. They were actually more like a circus, and they had this huge lion that could do tricks!" The warning glares forgotten, she told him about Buggy and his crew as they drank, how they knew how to have a good time, causing her brother to burst out laughing every now and then as she explained their tricks and acrobatics.

"And his nose! I shit you not, big and red like a ball, like the ones clowns use! Hilarious!"

"Real?" Marco raised an eyebrow in surprise as Mirim nodded. "Yeah, it was. If you ever meet him, don't mention it. He gets really defensive on the subject." Another round of laughter was heard on the deck and the others wondered what was so funny. They crowded around Mirim and Marco and she had to retell the tale many times. Before long, everyone was drinking an enjoying themselves as well and the musicians began to play their instruments while the rest of the crew sang, drank and danced. It was quite a sight, a sight she had missed terribly, but the air was tense.

"Jozu-nii." The giant man looked down at the girl who sat beside him. She was looking at the party with a small smile but her eyes were suspicious when she looked up at him. "What's got everyone so worked up?"

"Picked up on that did you?" She gave him an unimpressed look. "I grew up on this ship. I know when something's wrong." He chuckled.

"Yeah, Red-Hair sent a courier a few days ago. He wants to meet pops and discuss something. We don't know what; pops ripped the letter to shreds without reading."

"That's so like him." Mirim chuckled but she could guess as to what matter Red-Hair wanted to discuss. There was only one thing it could be, and that was the matter with Ace and Blackbeard. She pushed the concern and worries away and decided to enjoy the party to the fullest, like she had done on Buggy's ship.

The next day, she woke up to loud yelling and sounds of heavy footsteps. It did _not_ help her hangover. Grumbling she stumbled out of bed and to her bathroom, brushing her hair and teeth before changing clothes and stalking up towards the deck.

'_They better have a fucking good reason for this ruckus.'_ She thought and covered her eyes from the sun. She soon spotted Jozu and Marco, both sitting close to their captain as the crew had gathered all around the old man.

"What's going on?" She asked through a yawn as she leaned against Jozu, taking in the nervous newbies. "Red-Hair is coming." Jozu said in annoyance. He had told Mirim about his arrival the other night and shook his head at the thought of her forgetting everything _important_ when she was drinking.

"Shanks? Already?" So she hadn't forgotten, she just hadn't anticipated that the Emperor would arrive so quickly after herself.

"Captain, we're receiving Red-Hair!" Everyone turned their heads to stare at their captain who downed a huge cup of rum. "Didn't the nurses' ban pops from drinking?" Mirim's shoulders hunched as she realized the nurses were glaring at the cup with distaste. Marco sighed and stood up, ignoring Mirim and pointing at the younger and newer members of the fleet.

"Alright, the weak ones stay back, oy!" He called. "You can't handle that person." All of the aforementioned men turned to stare at the First Division Commander in confusion and one voiced the question they were all thinking.

"What do you mean; can't handle that person?" Marco grew annoyed and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "It doesn't matter, just go inside, oy." Mirim grinned while Marco sighed as one by one the pirates started to fall unconscious on deck. Some of them panicked and thought their friends dead.

"Don't worry, they're just unconscious, oy!" Marco called out calming them somewhat but none managed to move away without fainting as well.

"With only a half-assed resolution you won't be able to retain consciousness before that man." Jozu frowned as Shanks came into their view and then all the remaining pirates lost their conscious as well. Mirim did not practice haki merely because she had no skill in that area but her will was still strong enough that she managed to resist Shanks' haki with the same ease as her brothers Marco and Jozu. She had been raised on the Moby Dick after all, and had endured theirs and the captain's haki her entire life.

"He does a grand entrance as usual." The green haired girl grinned as Marco sat down on the fence beside her. She moved her elbow to his shoulder and used him as a pillow as the captain of the Red-Hair pirates approached their own captain.

"He has an impressive spirit." Jozu agreed as the ship itself trembled beneath them. "Excuse me; I had to be a little bit of a threat since it's an enemy ship." The redhead smirked. Whitebeard stared down at the tall man from his seat, his lips twitching upwards only slightly.

"Just seeing your face makes the wounds given to me by that bastard ache again." Whitebeard scoffed. Shanks only smiled, letting the insult roll off of him. "I've brought healing water; I've got no intention to fight. There's something I wish to talk with you about, that's all."

"Is that all that the man who came here to show his spirit says?" Whitebeard chuckled darkly and Marco spoke up, annoyed. "Oi, Red-Hair! Bastard, look at what you did, oy!" The Commander gestured to the piles of unconscious pirates as Shanks turned towards him.

"Oh! You're the First Division Commander, Marco, right?" Shanks asked though he already knew the answer. "Won't you join my crew?"

"Shut up, oy!" Marco exclaimed red-faced causing Mirim to burst out laughing.

"And you're the Second Division's Lieutenant, Mirim! Perhaps you will join me?" This caused the girl to cease her laughter and she blinked owlishly at the man before smiling.

"Why would you want me in your crew?" She asked innocently, causing everyone to look at her. "You're a very capable fighter, as well as a pretty lady." Was the simple answer given to her. She could feel Marco tense up under her arm and one would have to be blind to miss the dark glares aimed at the red-haired man. They were daring him to try to say anything more about the subject.

"Why, thank you for the compliment." She said and he nodded in her direction. "But I would have to decline. My place is here." Again Shanks nodded and Mirim grinned. Of course Shanks was never serious about recruiting any of the Whitebeard Pirates. It was only a good-natured jab at them for he knew that their loyalties would never change, neither would he want them to.

"Old man, should we….?" Jozu asked and Whitebeard nodded, waving them away. "It appears this isn't war." As the Whitebeard pirates left them to their conversation, no one noticed a shadow climbing up on the right side of the ship, listening intently to the conversation between the two Emperors.

**Innocence**

"What's going on?" Mirim, Marco and Jozu stood in front of the crew, watching the captains from the sidelines.

"The old man is laughing." One of the pirates said, apparently worried. Mirim couldn't blame him, or any of the others who were afraid. Their captain could laugh at anything, but there was a warning hanging above them now, telling them that whatever caused the old man to laugh was not something pleasant. One didn't have to know the old captain personally to feel the danger.

"Leave Blackbeard alone? His crime is something that should never occur on a pirate ship! The murder of a comrade!" Whitebeard boomed making Mirim flinch but only the two commanders noticed because the others were too busy watching the argument between Shanks and Whitebeard.

'_She hasn't gotten over it yet.'_ Marco thought. To be fair, neither had he, but he could hide it much better than she and while he had lived with Thatch on the Moby Dick from before she had even been born she had been raised by the man. To her, they really were brothers from the beginning, the only ones she knew. Shanks unsheathed his sword as Whitebeard pulled out his bisento and suddenly the two weapons clashed, sending a shockwave through the ship, causing many pirates to stumble and alerting them to what was happening.

"That bastard! What does he think he's doing?" A pirate yelled, referring to Shanks.

"Wait, he's not the type of man who does stupid things, oy!" Marco yelled over the pirates muddling voices to calm them down. "But something must have gone wrong in their discussion." Jozu chimed in, looking at the sky.

"Just look, the sky's been divided!" Everyone looked up and saw that, indeed, the sky was cleaved in half. It was quite an amazing sight and it sent shivers up and down everyone's spines. Their captain was incredibly powerful but Red-Hair was no less impressive. If a war broke out then there would be a lot of causalities. Mirim fisted her hands and growled before turning around and stalking into the ship.

"Men have to fight, they can never talk! They only understand when it's too late!"

"Lieutenant!" A pirate was about to follow her, wondering what caused her to react in anger but Marco and Jozu stopped him.

"You shouldn't follow her." They said while waving their hands. "If you want to live, stay here, oy."

**Innocence**

"What did you find out?" Mirim asked as she closed her door. One of the many advantages of being the only _fighting_ daughter of Whitebeard was that she had her own room which she didn't share with the nurses. A replica of her looked up from her seat on the windowsill and stared at Mirim.

"Shanks is afraid that Ace is no match for Blackbeard. The scars over his left eye were inflicted by Blackbeard and Shanks claims that he was not careless in that particular fight."

"I see…" Mirim replied thoughtfully and put a hand on her chin, falling deep in thought. All the while the replica watched her, waiting for the woman to speak up again. Everything was silent except for the sounds of battle coming from the fight between the two Emperors' on deck.

"Are you going after him?" The replica finally asked. She did not have any feelings, for she was but a clone, but still she asked. "What?" Mirim looked up, surprised by the sudden question. Never had one of her clones ever asked her a question.

"The Commander, are you going after him?" The replica repeated and Mirim shook her head.

"No, I trust he will do just fine without me. Thanks for your help." The replica nodded and leaned backwards, slipping out of the window but before she reached the ocean she turned into water herself and mingled with the ocean.


	12. Chapter 12

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

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Ace supported himself on both his hands and knees, coughing up blood and trembling in pain as his body ached all over. Ace tried with all his might to get up on his feet again but his body wouldn't listen to him. No matter how hard he tried he would just fall to the ground again, looking like a worm twitching to get away from its predator and Blackbeard was that predator.

"Everything is useless before darkness! Even that strength of yours but it would be a shame to waste it. Ace, _become my comrade!_" Blackbeard yelled triumphantly. He knew Ace, he knew Ace's power, and though he could use Ace as a comrade he knew all too well of the man's loyalty to Whitebeard. He knew the answer before Ace even said it.

'_It's hard to move. I have to use _that.' Ace thought and smirked at Blackbeard as he slowly but steadily managed to stand up. His power flared to life within him as he spoke, all of it channeled within the center of his body, ready to be unleashed at his command.

"Yielding my power to you forfeits the point of being born human. If I did, Mirim would make me regret it…. And I don't live with regrets, you got that, idiot?" Ace spoke slowly, as if to a child and Blackbeard laughed loudly, not at all fazed by the Second Division Commander's taunts.

"The world is ever changing Ace, how long can you continue to live like that? It's a shame Ace but you will _die by the darkness!"_ As Blackbeard spoke a huge amount of black smoke emerged from him, Ace was not far behind in preparing his own attack.

"Dai-enkai! Entei!" Ace roared as fire spiraled around his feet, covering the ground around him before shooting up around in and taking the shape of a miniature sun, yet the size was that of a small mountain. Blackbeard stared at the fireball hovering above Ace before laughing again.

"The sun or the darkness? There can only be one winner!"

"I will make Whitebeard the king." Ace said confidently before he charged forward, his fire clashing with Blackbeards' darkness. Ace gave his all as he forced his fire forward, the memories of the good times aboard the Moby Dick flashing before his eyes and he wondered if Blackbeard ever regretted what he did, regretted killing Thatch. These thoughts were immediately expelled from his mind as he focused all of his will to make his fire come out on top of this battle but even though Blackbeard _had_ committed the greatest crime aboard a pirate ship he had still been a good friend and supporter the few years Ace had been part of the crew. It was hard to fight a former comrade. The impact caused a great explosion on the island and then… darkness.

The only thing left untouched on the island was Ace's orange hat, turned upside down and gathering dirt.

**Innocence**

Mirim lay on a sun-bed on the deck, her left hand waving back and forth as her legs supported the newspaper in her lap. In her right hand there was a bottle of rum and she absentmindedly browsed through the paper, taking notice of the new bounties on the rivaling pirate crews. The Eleven Supernova were someone to keep tabs on, she realized as she read through their articles. She thought about the changes she had done to her scythe, Soul Slayer, for she had learned that without being able to use haki, she would need other tools to be able to fight logia users. She had attached a five meter long seastone chain to it, so should it ever be knocked out of her hands there would be no problem in getting her hands on it again. The seastone would work well should she encounter logia types.

It had been a long time since she could enjoy the sun and just relax and it felt incredibly good. She had travelled with Ace for several months and there had never been a moments rest. The Commander had been relentless in their search for Blackbeard and the only times she had really managed to relax was when they were travelling with Luffy and his crew. Lazily her hand swept back and forth, the soap water on the deck moving back and forth as well, as if it had a mind of its own.

It was the Second Division's turn to keep the ship clean and in good shape this month and since Ace was gone she had the command though that did not mean she wouldn't do her part. She just didn't get up on her feet and do it with a mop. It was far too much work, she had decided that morning. She came across some interesting wanted posters and was about to go through them when a shadow blocked out the light. She looked up to see Marco with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Marco-nii, you're blocking the sun." The girl deadpanned and he rolled his eyes. "Well, pardon me, princess. May I ask what you're doing, oy?" He asked sarcastically and she raised an eyebrow.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Lazing around." This time she rolled her eyes. "Look around, I'm cleaning the deck. I'm just doing it my way."

"So I see you're managing to relax now, because you certainly didn't manage to do so after you returned, oy." She shrugged and set down her bottle. "Well, it's as you told me. The Commander is strong and I should just trust that he'll manage on his own." Marco laughed and ruffled her hair, causing her to sigh.

"That's right, oy. Ace will return with good news and everything will be like it was before, oy." He stood up and walked away after his little speech and she mock-glared after him before brushing her hands through her hair to straighten it out again. She looked down at the wanted posters and chuckled at the reports in the paper.

_You've been busy, haven't you?'_ She thought in amazement while reading about a certain event that happened in Eneis Lobby. She reached out towards her bottle when the sound of glass cracking echoed. She turned and saw her bottle crack before shattering into thousands of tiny pieces. She sat up sharply and stared at the shards with a worried expression as Jozu, who had not been too far away, hurried over.

"What happened?" He asked and she frowned. "It just… shattered on its own." She muttered uneasily.

"What?"

'_I've got a bad feeling…'_ She thought as she jumped up on her feet and raced down below deck. "Mirim! Where are you going?" Jozu called after her but she ignored him. Like Luffy, Mirim also had a Vivre card, connected to Ace since he was her Commander, and it was hidden in a drawer in her bedside-table. She opened it and pulled it out, staring at it intently. It was still whole and untouched making her sigh in relief. She tucked it in one of the pockets on her shorts before leaving her room, feeling better than when the feeling of dread had seized her. There was one thing she did not notice.

The moment she had tucked away the Vivre Card, the edges began to crumble and burn away. Still, having not noticed this, she went up on deck again and grabbed the newspaper she had dropped, heading over to Jozu to show him an article.

"Jozu-nii, you remember Ace talking about his kid brother right? Look here, they apparently burned down Enies Lobby." The girl grinned as she handed the Third Division Commander the paper and wanted posters.

**Innocence**

Days later a subordinate from her division knocked on her door. She opened it and stared at him tiredly.

"Mirim, the captain is calling for an emergency meeting."

"Emergency meeting?" Mirim questioned. What could be so important that it was considered an emergency? Still, the girl thanked him and walked out the door, dragging her feet with her down the hallways until she stood outside the captain's quarters. She walked inside and saw that she was the last one to arrive. All the other Commanders aboard the flag ship and the Fourth Division's Lieutenant were all there. Still, she walked over to stand beside Marco, who glanced at her.

"You're late." He whispered. "Sorry." She sighed and he noticed then how pale her skin was, her slightly labored breathing, dazed eyes and slumped posture.

"You alright?" She nodded and brushed his worry off. "Just a bit tired, that's all." She turned her attention back on Whitebeard who began to speak now that everyone was gathered.

"Something grave and terrible has happened." Everyone's attention was fixed on their captain now, his tone of voice frightening. Whitebeard was never one to worry and since he openly showed such an emotion now nothing less than something terrible must have happened. "Ace fond Blackbeard."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Mirim questioned and Whitebeard shot her a look of pity. She didn't look well in his eyes either and this would probably not help her clearly exhausted self. "He fought and lost." This garnered expected reactions from his subordinates who all burst out with exclamations at the same time.

"What?"

"Lost?"

"Ace lost to Blackbeard?!"

"Impossible!" Mirim cried out but Whitebeard shook his head and pulled out Ace's hat, setting it down on the table between him and the officers. "Blackbeard gave him to the Navy. Right now he's kept in Impel Down but according to the papers he'll be executed in a week."

"You can't be serious! I checked his fucking Vivre Card just days ago!" Mirim shouted and rummaged through her pockets for said piece of paper, pulling it out to show her captain that her commanding officer was alright.

"See! It's-" She trailed off and stared at the paper. It was only half as big as it had been days ago and was still crumbling away as she stared at it. "He lost… We have a week until his execution is being put in motion. From what I've gathered it will be held in Marineford. I've already sent messages to our allies and they are on their way. If the Navy wants a war they will get it!" He slammed his fist on the table causing it to crumble into broken pieces of wood. Mirim grabbed a hold of Ace's hat, her thoughts spinning wildly out of control.

'_There's no way, _no way at all,_ that the Commander could have lost to Blackbeard! You're one of the strongest on the ship! It's impossible! I believed in you! I stayed here even after Red-Hairs' warning! This isn't- This isn't-'_ Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the floor out cold.

"Mirim!" Marco exclaimed and fell to his knees beside her, lifting her up and putting a hand to her forehead when he noticed her flushed face and heavy breathing. "She's burning up! Someone get Doc, now!" As he said this he was running down the hallways towards the infirmary where said crewmember always stayed, kicking the door open and putting Mirim down on one of the many infirmary beds.

"She's contracted a nasty cold pops. Combine that with exhaustion, lack of sleep," He pointed at the dark circles under the green haired girl's eyes, "Stress and a fierce fever and you have yourself one bedridden Lieutenant. The news of Ace's capture and planned execution was not something Mirim needed right now. Her body shut itself off to recuperate." Doc said after he had finished examining her. He frowned, for her condition was terrible. Nothing life-threatening but it was clear that she had pushed her body to its limits and was now paying for it.

"For how long will she stay like this?" Whitebeard asked and Doc gave him a look. "She won't participate in the war, captain." Whitebeard groaned. While he didn't really want her to join in the war, as dangerous as he knew it would be, her powers would have been an extreme boost to both morale and fighting power.

"She'll be forced to stay in bed if she doesn't, by some miracle, get better in a few days but the chances of that happening are so small it can't even be considered probable." Whitebeard stared at his daughter, taking in her flushed face, her breathing still heavy. He put Ace's hat down on the bedside table before exiting the infirmary.

"… Shit."

* * *

Dai-enkai – Great Blaze Commandment

Entei – Flame Emperor


	13. Chapter 13

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

'_Where is she?'_ Ace thought as he scanned the chaotic battlefield where marines and pirates were slaughtering each other. He hadn't seen her when Whitebeard had appeared with his Commanders by his side and he hadn't seen her join the fray when the war finally began.

'_Did he leave her behind?'_ He turned his eyes on his captain and mentally shook his head. _'No, he wouldn't do that, not to mention she wouldn't let him… but I can't see her anywhere and knowing her she would have done something to gain my attention at the very beginning.' _Again he tried to locate his Lieutenant but she was nowhere in sight.

'_Tell me she's safe pops.'_

**Innocence**

Sweet, sweet darkness. That meant you were either dead or asleep. Mirim was pretty sure she hadn't died so that left only one option. It felt good, sleeping that is. Her body wasn't heavy anymore and her mind was oddly at peace. Weird. What had happened again? Why was she sleeping?

Then there was noise. Cries, screams, the sound of steel clashing, yelling, the ship trembled. She stirred, then opened her eyes finding herself staring at the roof of the infirmary.

Why was she in the infirmary? She smelled food then and reached out to her right. Nothing. Then she reached to the left and found a spoon. Close enough. She turned on her side and saw a bowl with soup. She tried one spoon and stuck out her tongue in disgust. It was cold. The noise was getting louder but she could still hear her stomach rumble. She grabbed the bowl and shoveled the soup into her mouth and swallowed. Oddly enough her body felt a bit more refreshed now. How long was it since she last ate? She noticed the needles sticking out of her arm then.

'_Oh. Alright, that explains why the soup was enough.'_ She pulled the needles out and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. So far, so good. She stood up slowly and found herself only a bit shaky. There was a glass of water by the bedside too and she slowly drank it, the cool liquid refreshing her parched throat. She looked around for clothes, and found her usual outfit neatly folded on a chair. On top of them lay Ace's bright orange cowboy hat. She pinched the bridge of her nose, shoulders slumping. She had really hoped that had just been a dream. She had a pretty good idea of where the ship was docked at the moment and that meant she had to hurry up. She dressed quickly and grabbed Ace's hat, putting it on her own head. He just didn't look right without it so she had to give it back to him the moment she found him.

She went to the windows, to see if she could see the battlefield she knew was out there and gasped. Marineford was a total warzone, and in the midst of it, Oars giant body lay unmoving.

"Oars…" Was he dead? She couldn't see him breathing. He just lay there. Her eyes flitted back and forth, trying to locate the Commanders. Everyone were locked in heated battles, even Whitebeard was out there, cutting down marines and creating a path towards something. She moved her eyes and saw the execution platform and her own commanding officer, kneeling. She couldn't see his expression from the ship but she could see two people other than the executioners there as well.

'_Sengoku and Garp.'_ She swallowed. How long had she been out cold? At least a week, if what Whitebeard had said during the meeting was true. This was _not _the time to laze around! She turned and ran out of the infirmary, intent on joining the fray.

Meanwhile the Whitebeard Pirates, their captain and allies fought against the marines while trying to break through the siege wall the Navy had erected to keep the pirates at bay. There was one weak point to the wall though, and that was Oars' massive body but it was impossible to climb over him because the marines were waiting with mortars on the other side. They were trapped. Fist-shaped balls of magma descended from the heavens then, courtesy of admiral Akainu, and sunk several ships. Among the pirate ships being destroyed, Moby Dick was the last one to sink.

"Our ship!" The pirates cried out, not only because that was one of their escape routes but because it was their home. "We followed Whitebeard for many years on that ship!" Marco stared as his home, filled with memories, sunk into the ocean before something clicked in his mind.

"Mirim, oy!" He bellowed. Their captain had also realized it for he had turned and began to run towards the wreckage. "Mirim!" The girl was still inside, unconscious in the infirmary. Jozu quickly grabbed a hold of him though, and kept him back.

"Pops, you can't swim!" He yelled though he wanted nothing more than to run back as well. They should have deposited her on an island, they should have left her somewhere safe. They should have known that the Moby Dick would have been a primary target to keep the pirates from escaping! Marco was gliding over the wreckage, scanning it in hopes of finding her but he couldn't even find her body. With no such luck he landed beside Whitebeard and shook his before watching the last remains of the ship disappear under the surface.

"I'm sorry pops… I couldn't find her."

Upon the execution platform Ace realized that something was wrong but he didn't realize what it was before he understood _why_ he hadn't been able to find his Lieutenant on the battlefield. For some reason she had been on the ship and kept there and now…

"_Mirim!_" He yelled out in anger and anguish. _'She can't be gone! Not her, she survives everything, she's-'_ His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice who screamed out in fury.

"The fuck? What have you done you motherfucking piece of shit, I ought to-" He closed his eyes. Never had he been so happy to hear the girl cuss her heart out. Everyone else looked up to the top of the siege wall where the one they thought to be dead stood, her scythe, Soul Slayer, resting over her shoulder as she shook her fist at the marines and threw curses left and right.

"Mirim!" The men of the Second Division yelled out happily. "You're safe!" Ace sank back on his knees, not realized he had tried to get up when he thought Mirim had died, relief flooding through him.

"She's safe. Thank god, she's safe." His head sank to his chest as he chanted the words over and over again, a small smile moving onto his face though it disappeared as the sounds of battle made themselves known to his ears again.

"Did you say something, Fire Fist?" Sengoku asked as the man straightened his back and stared ahead with a blank expression. "No."

At the very same time Whitebeard squeezed Mirim's shoulders, sighing in relief that his daughter was safe and sound and that not a scratch had made its way on her. She had left the ship before Akainu had attacked.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Mirim exclaimed while glaring at Whitebeard but Marco intervened while kicking a marine away. "You had a terrible fever, oy. Doc told us to keep you in bed. Why are you up and about, by the way, oy?" He asked. Mirim swung her scythe and the few brave marines that had dared to get close to Whitebeard were quickly cut down.

"I got better." She replied curtly. "How's the status of getting him out of here?" She pointed her thumb up at Ace.

"He doesn't want to be saved." Marco replied and there was an awkward silence before the girl took a deep breath and turned towards the execution platform.

"_Why the hell don't you want to be saved?_" She yelled loudly, loud enough for the sentenced man to hear her. Was she really asking him that? Wasn't it obvious? She would be saying the exact same thing as him if she were in his shoes.

"_I don't want anyone to die for me!_" Ace shouted back.

"_Then what are we supposed to die for then, you dumbass?_" That was a good argument and every pirate who heard her roared in agreement. Ace did not have a reply so instead he opted for just staring at her, gaping like a fish. The girl took another deep breath.

"_We're coming to save you and you don't have any say in the matter!" _Again the pirates agreed with her loudly and they charged forward with new vigor as powerful gusts of winds swept the marines away, clearing a path so the pirates could gather together. Ace thought then, that if it was Mirim, or anyone else from the crew, wouldn't he also be doing the exact thing as them? Atop the platform Sengoku watched calmly as the navy soldiers were blown away.

"Death God Mirim, also known as the Wind Witch. Her control over the wind never ceases to amaze me." He said while watching. He did not know her last name and the nickname they had given her originated in her choice of weapon though the Navy had realized later that her true power had been to control the wind. They had not heard of someone acquiring a Devil Fruit with the power of wind before that though. Suddenly the ocean began to pull back and the ground started to shake. Had Whitebeard begun another attack with his power?

'_No, he didn't. He's been busy keeping the soldiers away from Death God and no one in his crew has the ability to control water and earth. What's going on?'_

"_A tornado, an earthquake, a tsunami! I will create any natural disaster to save you!"_ The green haired girl screamed out in rage and as if on cue a wave began build itself up behind the ships.

"A tsunami?" Sengoku and Garp exclaimed simultaneously. This they had not expected. "Mirim…" Ace whispered. Yeah, he thought. He would also be risking his life if it was any other Whitebeard Pirate or ally kneeling on this platform. There was no use in fighting against them. He wouldn't have listened either. The pirates huddled together, and the tsunami began to tower over the island.

"_Aokiji!"_ Sengoku yelled above the roaring water and the admiral leaped into the air, using his ability to freeze the wave but they were all thrown off when Mirim laughed and the pirates smirked. "Too predictable!" Both she and Whitebeard raised their arms and the wave shattered into several sharp stalactite-looking pieces. Very sharp pieces. Half of the wave fell down and harmlessly melted away but what was kept up in the air loomed threateningly above the marines.

"This can't be good." Garp squinted up at the ice, worry beginning to grow within him.

"I'll open a path. Charge!" She let her arm drop and the icicles rained down on the marines that surrounded the pirates and the siege wall. While the soldiers fell to the ground, either severely injured or dead the wall didn't budge one bit. That was their cue. Everyone charged towards the wall but the moment she was close, Mirim stopped and kneeled beside Oars' corpse, noticing that his blood was leaking into the machinery that operated the wall. Perhaps this was why his body managed to keep the wall from rising up?

"Pops! I need you to hit the wall with all you've got!"

"I've already tried, it won't work!" Whitebeard argued.

"Trust me!" Mirim yelled and soared over the wall, landing on the other side and creating a space where she could work unhindered by creating a wall of stone that would hold the enemy at bay. The moment Whitebeard's attack hit, and she knew so by the shock of the impact on the side she was standing on, she stomped her heel down on the ground.

"Tsuchi!" The wall quivered and seconds passed before the stone wall she created crumbled behind her, courtesy by one of the giants but she paid him no heed because at that moment the siege wall began to crumble as well and the attacking giant stopped in his attack, staring.

"No way…"

"_A path has been opened! Go forth!" _Whitebeard boomed and the pirates charged forward and into the plaza, calling for Ace. The marines manning the mortars and cannons weren't able to turn their aim before most of the pirates were inside. "_We're coming Ace!"_ Mirim moved to follow but stopped and stared at the still unmoving Oars, and rested her palm on his arm.

"Are you dead Oars?" She could have sworn she had seen him twitch. Jozu then landed beside her as he jumped off Oars' body and told her to move on towards the platform with the rest of the pirates but she shook her head and pointed at the pirates that were still trapped in the water, saying that she had to help them. "Don't worry about them. We've got it under control!" She let herself be pulled with him, trusting in his words as she always had and kept her eyes on the opponents in front of her, occasionally glancing up at Ace to confirm that he was still alive. She spotted someone then, sword drawn and amber eyes following her movements.

Hawkeye. She glanced at him and he closed his eyes before turning away from her. She had to smile. The swordsman would ignore her presence in the war for the time being and she guessed that was as easy as he would go on her. To think that her unexpected adventures as a child when she was experimenting with her power would give her the friendship of a Shichibukai. Who would have thought such a thing possible? But it was only for a short while. He wouldn't turn a blind eye to her forever if there weren't stronger opponents to fight. He was after all fighting in the war _against _the crew she was a part of. He wouldn't be lenient forever, that just wasn't him.

On this side of the wall there weren't many injured marines for they had been standing safely behind the wall as Mirim attacked and they charged at the pirates with the same vigor. They would not lose the war. A marine came at Mirim with his sword raised. She dodged to the side and elbowed him in the face, the nose cracking beneath it and shoving itself up the marines head. Two more appeared, one with a sword, another with a rifle. She dodged the swordsman and as the marksman was about to pull the trigger she redirected his aim and he shot his comrade instead. Horrified the marksman called out but it was cut short as she used him as a human shield.

"How dare you-" The marine who cut down his comrade began but was punched away by Jozu. "Keep up your guard Mirim."

"Thanks." She nodded and hurried onward with Jozu guarding her back. "He's alive! The impact must have woken him up!" The two turned and saw Oars getting up on his hands and knee, struggling to fully regain his consciousness. "Oars!" Mirim cried out but didn't run back. She was too far ahead to do that. The platform wasn't that far off now and turning back now could be fatal for Ace.

"Don't do it! You're in no shape to move!" She called instead but the giant ignored her, or he couldn't hear her over the other screams and clashing steel. All she knew was that Oars did not lay down again. What he _did_ do was pulling a coated ship into the plaza, with all the pirates who had been trapped in the water with it. Then a pillar of water soared over the wall. She did not do that, so she wondered who had and why whatever they had sent over the wall was landing in front of the three admirals, Aokiji, Akainu and Kizaru.

"Luffy?" She whispered as she stared at the exhausted boy. He was full of cuts and bruises and he was beyond exhausted but it was no doubt about it. She wondered why and how he had gotten to Marineford and if his crew was with him. She couldn't see them anywhere. One thing was clear to her though; he did not stand a chance against the admirals, at least not on his own.

"Gear Second!" The boy yelled and his speed doubled. She could barely see his fists as they slammed into the mast he had thrown at the marines. The splinters and frozen wood went straight through them and did not wound the logia users but it did give Luffy a split-second advantage and the boy leapt over them, trying to reach the platform.

No such luck. Kizaru was light itself and therefore much faster than Luffy. The boy was sent flying with a kick.

"Luffty!" Mirim screamed as the young captain was sent crashing through a building,

"Now now, worry about yourself Miss Death God." She heard a voice behind her. She moved to turn around, to attack but she never stood a chance. She was violently shoved to the ground and her arm was twisted behind her back. She was stuck, a prisoner of Kizaru. This would not bode well for her.

"Do it!" Sengoku yelled loud and clear above all the noise and her head snapped up, watching as the executioners swung their weapons down at Ace's neck. Her blood ran cold as she watched, eyes widening more for every second that moved the swords closer to the freckled man's neck.

"_Commander!_" She screamed in terror but a mere second before his head rolled, blades of sand shot up and killed them, sending them tumbling down the stairs of the platform. The Fleet Admiral was not pleased as he glared at Crocodile who glared right back. Even with his grudge against Whitebeard the former Shichibukai hated the thought of the Government succeeding and voiced his opinion.

"Mirim! Get to Ace, oy!" Her twisted arm moved and Kizaru looked down to see her open her palm. Blades of wind shot out and distorted his form, giving her the chance she needed to roll away and get up on her feet, aiming for the platform as Marco kicked Aokiji away from Luffy who had been caught as he had moved towards the platform again.

Behind her screams of pain, agony, fear and joy could be heard. The ground shook beneath her feet and that was a signal. Whitebeard was fighting harder now too and she had to make sure to move out of his line of fire. Failure was never an option and now she had to stop holding back too. Hiding ones heritage was no longer an option either and she would have to use everything she knew, all of her powers, her techniques and wit to clear a path to and from the platform. Maybe she wouldn't get there, maybe she wouldn't reach Ace but she sure as hell would make sure he got down from there _alive_.

* * *

Tsuchi – Earth

I'm pretty sure this is right, since I asked a friend of mine who is studying Japanese. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though.


	14. Chapter 14

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

Whitebeard readied himself to launch another attack, ordering his men to move away so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire, but the pirates had already moved away, expecting such. Aokiji suddenly appeared and froze him over but was not surprised when the ice shattered, noting to himself that vibrations really couldn't be frozen. The old pirate captain redirected his attack and ran the admiral through with his bisento though it didn't harm him much. Mirim turned her eyes away with a shake of her head. It was rare to see the old man fight now-a-days but she didn't have the luxury called time to watch. She had to save her Commander and _possibly_ his younger brother.

Luffy's attacks were sloppy. His movements slow and his breathing ragged causing her to believe that he would need saving too. He was too inexperienced for this kind of battle while she had grown up with this. She realized why she wasn't being pursued anymore when Luffy screamed in pain. Kizaru had abandoned her to deal with Luffy and she stopped short, watching him impale the boy with his light powers.

"If you don't have the strength, there are things you cannot save no matter how hard you try." With a kick he sent the boy flying with such force and speed that Mirim knew he would die the moment he hit the remnants of the siege wall despite being made of rubber but just then Whitebeard caught him and held him upside down by his feet.

"Well, it looks like even the great Whitebeard is starting to lose his touch." Kizaru mocked. "To think that a man of your caliber would go out of his way to save a defenseless piece of trash."

"That makes him into a greater man than you'll ever be, you son of a bitch!" Mirim screamed angrily and slashed the admiral's neck though it was a futile action since he was light itself. Whitebeard bellowed her name and she grit her teeth.

"No turning back Mirim!" Marco yelled and she nodded to herself. There was no turning back. They couldn't afford it, not now when Ace was up on that scaffold, ready to face his death. She turned her back on the admiral with the knowledge that should he attack the others would defend her. Right now she and Marco were their best bet at saving Ace because they were the only ones who had the ability to fly. The admiral never attacked her back though and she believed it to be so that either her comrades had intercepted him or he had simply lost interest in her. Marco shape shifted, taking action first, and flew towards the platform. Mirim grinned, believing that their objective would soon be completed, that Marco would grab Ace and pull him out of harm's way. They could deal with the seastone cuffs later when they were all safe. The grin slipped off her face though when Garp intercepted the Commander and sent him flying in the opposite direction. She stopped short and stared up at the man who sat down in one of the admiral's seats, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you want to reach the scaffold you'll have to go through me, whippersnappers!" The old man yelled. Mirim felt fear then. She may be the Lieutenant of the Second Division but this man before her was the Hero of the Marines. She stared up at the man who sat on a level above her, looking out at the death and destruction with such a calm face she felt like she couldn't move. He had experienced much more than her, to him she was just an infant when it came to fighting. What could she do against him, the man who was _the_ Hero of the Marines? The man who had hunted and captured the king, Gol D. Roger?

"Don't let his name fool you! He's just an old man!" Whitebeard boomed and she realized she hadn't been the only one to freeze up at the sight of the man. Garp snickered, and she wondered if it was because of the irony? Whitebeard was older than him by many years yet he called Garp an old man they shouldn't fear. Or perhaps he took delight in the fact that so many renowned pirates froze up at the sight of him. It could be either one and she found her resolution. She wasn't the only one who risked her life this day.

She would absolutely not give him the satisfaction of seeing her afraid.

"Tsuchi." She growled and thick vines forced their way past the stone ground and became her support as she leaped up. She was now on eye level with the marine but she noticed that he wasn't paying her any attention at all. He was looking up at the scaffold. Slowly, cautiously, she did the same and noticed that something was wrong with Ace.

"I'm disgusting!" The sentenced pirate grit out and her brows furrowed. "I'm so fucking screwed up! The old man… my brother… Mirim and my friends... They're all spilling their blood and falling around me and I… and I… goddammit why am I so happy?! _The tears just won't stop!_"

"Commander…" She whispered as her eyes widened and she turned to look at the battlefield behind her. It was a gruesome sight. Both marines and pirates fell left and right and she wondered how it felt, having to watch as your friends died while you could do nothing at all. She didn't know how it felt to know that _you_ were the reason your friends were getting hurt or dying, she couldn't even hope to guess how badly it must have hurt. The very ones you wanted to protect, the very ones you wished for a good long life, the people who meant the most to you… to know that you were the reason they were…. She turned her eyes from the sight and let her head fall into the palm of her hand.

It must have been the most painful thing anyone could ever feel.

"Why do I suddenly want to live?" Ace called out brokenly and she flinched. He didn't deserve this!

"You giving up, kid?" Garp snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up at him, her eyes blank.

"Do you see this mark or are you blind, old man?" He didn't care much for the jab but he could see the grey spiral tattoo on her right palm, which was facing towards him. He nodded. "Then you can see these too, right?" She pointed to her ankles. Again he nodded but he didn't understand why she was suddenly showing off her tattoos.

"Each of these tattoos symbolizes an element. The grey spiral is air, the water drop is water, the leaf is earth." His eyes widened a fraction as she continued her explanation. "I can control each of these elements and I swear by these markings that we _will save you, Ace!" _Behind her the pirates all roared out in agreement and began fighting with renewed vigor. Ace himself was staring at her with wide eyes.

'_My name…'_ He thought. Never had she used his name, not when he was still aiming for Whitebeard's head, not after he joined and not after he became the Commander of the Second Division. The girl was staring up at him with determined eyes and he couldn't help but feel that he would survive this battle but at the same time, something felt wrong. Had she used his name because she thought that she, like many of their comrades, wouldn't be able to escape unscathed? Did she think she would die? Is that why she had used his name? In that case, he would rather that she called him Commander again.

"Pops!" Ace looked past Mirim, Garp glanced down and Mirim turned, letting out a horrified cry. Whitebeard had fallen to his knees and the girl had turned just in time to see Akainu unleash an attack that hit the old pirate captain with deadly accuracy. Marco and Jozu had lost their concentration as well, giving the admiral's they had been fighting an opening they didn't waste time to take advantage off. Marco was stabbed several times by Kizaru's light as he turned to aid his captain. The Commander of the First Division stumbled towards his captain but Jozu was almost frozen over before he could do anything.

"You motherfucking-" She barely dodged the fist that was aimed at her face and with a growl distanced herself from the marine. She jumped forward, Soul Slayer raised high, an ugly snarl decorating her usually happy face as she swung after Garp who dodged her attacks with an agility one wouldn't think such an old man could have. She attacked again and growled angrily when the man grabbed a hold of the shaft of her scythe, holding her in place.

"Don't lose your concentration when you fight, girl, or you'll end up like them." Her anger reached new levels and she kicked him in the stomach, making him release her weapon and stumbling back. How dare tell her that? She knew the rules of combat; she knew what would happen should she give the enemy an opening so he had no right to give her advice and he had no right to speak ill of her brothers!

A cry could be heard then but it was not one made from being killed or hurt, it was a battle cry filled with fury, anguish and hope. Luffy was on his feet again and was quickly moving towards the scaffold despite the masses of soldiers moving to stand in his way. She attacked while Garp was distracted but still the old man managed to dodge. She growled out of frustration and attacked from above this time though it only ended with the marine catching her blade between the palms of his hands.

"Hurry! Before they try to cut Ace down again!" Luffy yelled as he fought viciously and having been caught in the air, Mirim risked a glance and saw two new executioners move towards the scaffold. For once she was glad that the marines were so damn adamant in doing things by their code. The executioners moved so slow that she could have laughed out in relief. It would take them ages to reach the top of the platform but that still didn't mean she had any time to waste. She forcefully freed herself and landed a safe distance away from Garp on the vines that continued to grow from the ground.

"Commander Marco!" She froze and turned only to watch her brother being impaled by Kizaru's attacks repeatedly.

'_Why isn't he regenerating? What's wrong-'_ But then she saw the seastone cuffs around his left wrist and panic gripped her for a moment. Marco would die if someone didn't do something. She could save him but she was the one closest to Ace. If she turned away now she may not be able to get to Ace at all. She was stuck in a difficult position. Could she really just save one of them? They had all been prepared to throw away their lives to save Ace but could she really just let Marco die? She turned towards Ace, biting her lip. She had to save Ace, she had to, but Marco… She couldn't let Marco die!

"What are you waiting for?" Ace yelled. "Go!" She stumbled back and fell towards the ground.

The man with the cuffs never saw her coming. He didn't notice the thick vines growing from the ground either before it was too late. By the time he was aware of their existence they had already wrapped around him tightly and trapped him and by then it was far too late to defend against the furious girl who had raised her scythe and slashed him across his chest.

Her first mistake was not to make sure he was dead.

"Marco-nii! Come on, I'll get you out of-" Her second mistake was not noticing Kizaru's attack. The admiral was surprised though when his attack went straight through her body, as if she wasn't there, and she turned towards him, now fully intent of incapacitating him if only for a few seconds. She raised her right hand and aimed at the admiral. Then she paid for her first mistake. The man she had cut down leaped at her and cuffed her as well. She kicked him out of the way hastily but by then it was already too late.

Getting caught off guard by the man with the cuffs was her third mistake. Again Kizaru attacked, sure that now Death God Mirim would bite the dust.

That was _his_ first mistake. The admiral never suspected that his powers would still be ineffective against her and he never suspected that the girl would live up to her name as she turned amber eyes on him.

* * *

Tsuchi – Earth

I'll have to tell you about this in advance. Microsoft Word died on me and I don't have the money to revive at the moment so there may be some time until I update again. Sorry, and thank you for your patience.


	15. Chapter 15

**I've got Microsoft Word back! Thanks a bunch Alex, for letting me leech of your programs! **

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

"Now that is strange." The admiral said slowly as he stared at the girl who stood tall in front of Marco. "I'm sure that those are seastone handcuffs." She cocked her head to the side and examined the cuffs as if it was a new, popular accessory.

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" She said nonchalantly, as if they weren't in the middle of a war. "Then I'm sure," the admiral began and shot another bullet of light at her, watching as it passed right through her yet again, "that my attack should have hit you." She shrugged.

"It should, shouldn't it?" Then she smirked. "But then again who said that my powers come from a Devil Fruit?"

"Not a Devil Fruit?" His eyebrows shot up to hide beneath his hair and she nodded. "Not a Devil Fruit." To demonstrate that it wasn't a Devil Fruit, the cuffs fell from her hand that disappeared for a second. From atop the execution platform Sengoku narrowed his eyes and raised his den den mushi, his suspicions now confirmed.

"Death God Mirim is a high priority target. Take her out at all cost!" He ordered and Mirim looked up at him, brushing off dirt from her pants. "You're the ones who gave me the bounty." She muttered but his next words made her freeze.

"She's the daughter of the Ocean Witch from East Blue, Kazemi P. Maya!" Everyone turned to stare at Mirim, including the pirates who didn't understand the importance of Mirim's mother. Whitebeard lowered his head as anger bubbled up in him. He had made sure that Mirim would never let anyone outside the crew know her last name for this exact reason. The girl didn't know herself the importance of her heritage but he shouldn't really be so surprised that Sengoku had found out. They had tracked down Ace's heritage as well after all and he knew Garp hadn't told them anything. Perhaps Blackbeard had told them, he couldn't be sure.

"Wait a goddamn minute!" Mirim yelled out. "You're going after me because I'm her daughter? Not because of my bounty or me being a Whitebeard Pirate?!" Sengoku didn't deign that with a response and she growled

"You have some serious explaining to do when I get up there."

"Provided that you survive long enough." Kizaru interrupted and she raised her scythe out of reflex but just as she had suspected it went straight through him. "Damn." She leaped to the side to try to draw the danger away from Marco and succeeded. She grabbed a hold of the chain fastened to the shaft and threw it at Kizaru who stood still, expecting it to pass straight through him. He was surprised when it wrapped around him.

"What's this?" He exclaimed and she tightened her hold on him by pulling on the chains. "Seastone." She said simply and charged. She hadn't expected to be able to cut him down in a single move. Even without his powers the admiral was agile and fast but after a lot of stumbling, cursing and getting kicked several times Mirim managed to land a hit and the admiral fell to the ground with a cry of pain. Panting she stood above him and lifted her tired arm high.

"This time, I'll make sure you stay down." And she did. Her scythe fell and the marines cried out as she drove the blade deep into the man's chest. Their morale fell as she pulled the blade out and walked calmly over to Marco. She knew that if she tried to run after exerting herself so she would fall and that would not help their situation. They were surrounded after all. One marine tried to move forward but she turned cold eyes on him and he stumbled back in fear. A smirk tugged on her lips, knowing that just now the marines were feeling the same fear the pirates had experienced when Garp had joined the battle, and she relished in it. She kneeled beside Marco and carefully pulled him up into a sitting position.

"You okay?" She asked though she knew that whatever he said would be a lie. He was bleeding profously and his breathing was heavy, labored. He needed to get those cuffs off him right now.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I didn't expect to be caught off guard like this though."

"I don't think we should be surprised Marco-nii." She said and surveyed the battleground. "You go and help out Jozu-nii and pops. I'll go take care of Ace." He nodded but suddenly his eyes widened and she turned sharply to catch sight of what he was witnessing.

"Show Whitebeard his 'son's' future." Sengoku called into the den den mushi and the executioners raised their swords.

'_No! How much time went past while I fought Kizaru? Did they run up the stairs?'_ She shot up on her feet and ran towards the platform, yelling with the other pirates at Ace, telling him to move.

"Ace, move!" She screamed as she prepared herself to turn into any wind that would transport her to the scaffold in time to save him but deep down she knew one disappointing fact. There was none. Ace himself had a resigned expression on his face, as if he was accepting death. The freckled man noticed something the girl hadn't though. She was crying, tears rolling down her cheeks and he frowned.

'_Is she crying because of me?' _It made sense, he would cry if it was her kneeling where he was. "Ace, please move! Do _something!_" Gods, it was too late! The blades were so close now, they would cut his head clean off in only a matter of seconds! They had failed, they had come here with such confidence in their power and they had failed! Their comrades had died, they were waging war and were still dying and now the marines was rubbing it in their faces that they had failed and that Ace was going to die-

"_Stop it already!" _The executioners fell to the wooden floor, unconscious, leaving Ace to stare at them in disbelief. The executioners weren't the only ones who fell unconscious though. The more inexperienced pirates did so too, as well as the weaker marines. Mirim herself stumbled and fell rather ungracefully to the ground by the force of Luffy's yell. Garp sat up straight in the chair and stared at his grandson with wide, disbelieving and disapproving eyes.

"H-haki… such powerful Haoshoku Haki." She stared at her hands that trembled and she felt that her mind was extremely heavy. She wanted to lay down on the ground and rest too but she couldn't. She forced herself up on her feet as she heard Luffy yell at Ace again and listening to many sets of footsteps heading in her direction. She turned just in time for Luffy to grab a hold of her arm and pull her with him without pausing or even slowing down. She stumbled at first but quickly caught her footing.

"Luffy…" The boy turned towards her with a stern expression and she couldn't help but smile. "Thank you." He grinned then and nodded but then tall shadows towered over them and they looked forward. Pacifista were coming at them from all sides.

"Shit. I'm too tired to fight these guys." Mirim muttered but grabbed her scythe with both hands, ready to create and opening for Luffy and stay behind to play the bait. She didn't have to though, for Boa Hancock of the Shichibukai jumped between them and held her arms out.

"Shichibukai Boa Hancock, an ally." The cyborgs said and their charged up lasers died down. "Ah, that's right, you're allies with them! Thanks, Hancock!" Luffy yelled and the empress blushed while nodding, apparently pleased with having helped the young pirate. Mirim only stared, wondering how Luffy had managed to ally himself with the man-hating empress. Speaking of which, said empress was glaring at her for some reason.

"What do you want, peasant?" The Shichibukai snarled and she shook her head and smiled at the raven haired beauty. "Thanks." She said simply and left the confused pirate behind as she hurried after Luffy. There was now only two obstacles left until they would reach Ace. The first was that there was a whole lot more marines near the scaffold now than what it had been earlier when she regretfully left it, the second was that this time both Garp and the Fleet Admiral, Sengoku, looked ready to fight.

"Luffy, you take care of these guys, I'll fight Garp." In a way, her proposition was a kindness. Luffy didn't have to fight his grandfather and the marines in front of them were in reality not too powerful, still she did help him by setting lose another batch of razor sharp wind blades from her scythe before leaping up to battle the Hero of the Marines.

"Finally back, girlie?!" Garp yelled out. "I'm going to take you down, old man!" She yelled back and their chosen weapons clashed. He jumped back, surprising her and causing her to fall forward. He darted towards her again and swung his fist but she responded by pushing herself up in the air with the help of her scythe, propelling herself higher up with the help of the wind.

"Kaze!" She proceeded to throw her scythe after Garp but the man dodged. He did not expect her to merely pull on the chain to reclaim her weapon and had barely gained his footing from his earlier dodge when the huge weapon charged at him again. Though he managed to avoid a fatal blow she had still managed to nick his cheek.

"So it's possible to hit you too, geezer?" She yelled and he grinned crazily, looking every bit as insane as her. "Bring it on, you little brat!"

Ace winced for each punch that hit Mirim. Several times she fell back and skidded across the solid rock ground as Garp hit her either in her face or chest area. His eyes would widen in fear each time she managed to scratch or cut the old man with her scythe. He didn't know what to do. On one hand he cared a lot for Mirim, she was his second in command, his friend and comrade but Garp was family, the man who had hid his existence for almost twenty years, who had been like a grandfather to him and was still Luffy's grandfather! He snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Mirim duck under Garps' fist and hit his chin with the non-lethal end of her staff, sending him tumbling backwards on the ground.

"Ace!" She leaped up but didn't get far before Garp grabbed her leg and slammed her to the ground, knocking the air out of her lungs and causing her to cough up blood. "Mirim!" Ace yelled and watched as she crawled up on all fours, limbs shaking and eyes glaring at Garp. She was too exhausted, he could tell. She was barely keeping herself together.

"You gotta do better than that." Garp glared right back and she kicked him in the face, leaping away from him and slamming her palms into the ground.

"Tsuchi!" Vines shot out and grabbed Garp though he pulled them apart effortlessly before they could trap him. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly moved up to stand straight. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Hero of the Marines. Too bad, it worked so well on one of your subordinates."

"I'm surprised though." Garp said as he dusted off his clothes. "Younglings should show respect to their elders." She bristled.

"Like hell any of you deserve any respect!" With that said she slammed the chained end of her scythe in the ground, cracking it. The crack moved with terrifying speed towards Garp where the ground gave out under him. He leaped into the air, dodging the hole but Mirim had run forward, dropping beneath the falling rocks and kicked them with surprising speed towards the man who couldn't dodge them in midair. Several of them hit their target, causing him to fall rather ungracefully to the ground.

"I'm not physically strong, but my speed is nothing to laugh about." He had to agree with her there. "I'm really surprised. Where do you get all these weird plans?"

"I was raised by pirates." He stiffened as he heard her voice behind him. "Mizu." He felt something wrap around his throat and he was lifted into the air. He tried grabbing at whatever had caught him but found himself grappling with water. He couldn't grab that!

"Sorry old man, but I've got no more time to fight you." Was the last thing he heard before he found himself being flung into the chaos beneath them. Mirim stared for a moment, exhaustion starting to make itself painfully known but she had to bear it. She felt bad for the pirates below though. She probably hadn't made the situation any better for them, having thrown Garp down to them but they could yell at her all they wanted later. Right now Ace was top priority. She wrapped the chain around her wrist and began climbing the platform's supports. She was almost there, she could see the top. Only a minute or two and she would be in front of Ace. There was only one obstacle left.

She pulled herself up onto the platform and grinned at Ace.

"I'm here." She said tiredly to the pirate who stared at her shocked before he seemed to realize something. "No! Get away from here!" She realized what was happening. She also knew that she had jumped to her feet and grabbed her scythe, intercepting Sengoku's sword. She saw him take a few steps back before charging at her again. She lifted her scythe to block his attack a second time and then she saw blood. She heard Ace scream her name, though she couldn't for the life of her understand why before she realized it.

"Goodbye, Death God Mirim." It was _her _blood.

* * *

Tsuchi – Earth

Mizu – Water

Kaze - Wind


	16. Chapter 16

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

Marco froze, staring up at the platform. This wasn't happening. This was _not_ happening! He saw Sengoku draw his sword the moment Mirim pulled herself up on the platform, he saw her block his first attack and he saw her move to block his next. He also saw how easily her staff was cut in half and that's when the horror sunk in. Her _red_ blood had gushed out of her, _her life had rushed out of her,_ and she had stumbled back.

'_No…'_ She had fallen to her knees beside Ace who screamed her name several times but she seemed to be in some sort of daze. Her mind must have been trying to process what was happening to her body. The girl had been wounded many times during her life even before she joined the pirates, having been a reckless child who didn't listen to their words of caution she was no stranger to pain, but she had never been so severely wounded!

"_Mirim!" _He bellowed as he watched her reach for Ace. Her body must be working on autopilot, he thought, since she was still trying to save her Commander even though she should have lost consciousness a long time ago. Then Sengoku stormed up and kicked her away, sending her almost falling off the edge of the platform. He watched her body tumble and skid away to the edge, her arm falling down and hanging limply from the edge. Raw rage was building up within him but he couldn't do anything as wounded as he was and with seastone cuffs secured around his left wrist.

The vice-admiral who cuffed him! He should still have the keys and Mirim had taken him out. He was still somewhere near! He looked around frantically and found the man. He hurried over and searched the man's pockets, finding the keys after a few moments. He quickly unlocked the cuffs and used his power to regenerate. He turned towards the platform but saw that one arm hang off the platform, unmoving, and Ace was biting his lips so hard he drew blood, staring at the body of the girl. His power could heal his own wounds but not others.

'_This isn't happening!'_

**Innocence**

She saw the staff of her scythe split in two and fall to the ground. Goddamn, Soul Slayer had been her mother's weapon! She glanced up at Sengoku, eyes wide in confusion. What had happened?

"What…?" She croaked out before she rested a hand over her chest, slowly she moved it out so she could see and witnessed her shaking hand covered in her own blood. She moved her gaze lower and saw the cut stretching from the left part of her chest to her right hip. She stumbled back a few steps. This wasn't right, this wasn't how it should be. Right now she should be running away with Ace….

Ace!

Someone was yelling but she couldn't hear what they were saying. She could only hear her heartbeat in her ears and the rush of blood leaving her body. When had she fallen to her knees, she thought, when she realized she was staring at the freckled man. This wasn't good, she was having blackouts and there was no time for those. She needed to grab Ace right now. So she reached out for him.

"A-Ace…" She whispered. "I need… to save Ace… Have to get you…. Out of here-" Almost there, she could feel the heat rolling off of him, she was almost touching him and then suddenly she was on the end of the platform, where Garp had been sitting previously. Why was she there? Oh, if she turned her head she could see Ace. She tried to reach for him again but she was having trouble focusing on him. Her vision was turning dark.

'_What did we fight for?' _She thought as the sounds suddenly attacked her ears before dying down again. _'Is this the end?'_ The only thing still within her vision was Ace and Sengoku, who stared. Ace was yelling and crying, why was he crying again? Sengoku just looked… indifferent.

'_Ah well, I don't regret anything.'_ She thought when she could see nothing anymore; only hear the sound of her heartbeat.

_Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump_

The others would save him. She had managed to get Garp away from the platform, Marco would help Whitebeard, and Jozu would be thawed out from his frozen state. And then there was Vista and the other Commanders. They were strong, much more powerful than her.

_Thump thump, thump thump_

And Luffy was so close too. He had been right behind her, he would save Ace, she was sure of it. The boy was a miracle-worker, getting up repeatedly after acquiring so many wounds, bruises and accumulating so much exhaustion.

_Thump thump_

She could rest now. The darkness was so inviting, so calming, peaceful. She wanted to sleep.

_Thump_

Yes, sleep seemed like a good idea now.

…_._


	17. Chapter 17

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

* * *

Amber eyes opened and she looked around. She was in a white space. She was literally in a white space. There was no floor, no roof, no walls, no nothing.

"Where the hell am I?" She said, her voice echoing and stood up, looking around. There was literally nothing here. She looked down at herself, looking for the wound Sengoku had given her. It wasn't there. She frowned. Had it been a dream? It had been one of the most livid ones she had ever had then but that didn't explain where she was and how she had gotten there… On the other hand, who was this Sengoku, and why would he hurt her?

"And how did I get here?" She wondered when she heard the rush of water. "You're within a space shared by all the elements before you." She turned around sharply and saw a blue, human-shaped form.

"What the hell!" She jumped back with her fists raised, seeing as she didn't have any weapon on her, and raised her guard. The blue form chuckled and held up its hands in a calming gesture. "Calm down. I won't hurt you." And then the blue color moved down towards the being's right ankle. Mirim gaped at the person who stood in front of her, a water drop tattoo on her right ankle glowing brightly.

"M-mommy?" The woman smiled, if only slightly, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry-" The woman began but Mirim threw herself at her and Maya stumbled backwards at the force but managed to stay on her feet.

"I really wanted to meet you." Mirim sobbed and Maya stared at her before smiling and returning the embrace, tears prickling her own eyes. "I know, I know." They just stood there for a while, neither talking, just basking in each other's presence. To be able to hold her mother, who had died the day she had been born, was such an overwhelming experience Mirim didn't quite know what to say but she was content in just standing there.

"Oh my!" A voice cut through the silence and Mirim looked up, seeing a green human-shaped form move towards them. "Is that my granddaughter?" Maya turned to face the new arrival and nodded.

"Yeah. This is Mirim." The color moved down towards the new woman's left ankle and in front of Mirim a new woman stood, one who resembled Maya quite much.

"Mirim, this is my mother and your grandmother, Mika." Mika looked extremely like Maya, except for the hair. It was short, barely reaching her shoulders and her face was rounder than Maya's, not to mention that her eyes were a lighter shade of Mirim and Maya's dark amber ones.

"Oh, what a cutie!" Mirim barely had time to react before the woman threw herself at her, embracing her tightly. "You look just like your mother, you do!" Air! Mirim needed air, no pun intended!

"Calm down girl, you're suffocating her!" A new, rough voice snapped and Mika let go of Mirim who fell to the ground, gasping. Her limbs felt like jelly, as if she had been denied oxygen for a much longer time than just a few moments. "I'm sorry! I forget my own strength sometimes." Mika giggled nervously and Mirim nodded, although shakily. She still didn't try to get up on her feet though, afraid she would only make a fool of herself and fall.

"It's okay. I know plenty of guys who don't know their own strength." She looked up to stare at the two new arrivals. One was a red shape and the other a bright white. It hurt her eyes to look at the white one.

"And you guys are?" The white one snorted and the color moved towards her chest, where it morphed into a zigzag scar, right beneath her breastbone. This woman was quite different from her mother and grandmother. Her eyes were a bright yellow, her hair a light shade of green held up in two buns on either side of her head. She stood taller than any of them as well, and scars covered her arms and legs. Obviously she came from a much more violent era than the rest and it made Mirim feel that she had lived an easy life.

"I am Maki, the first born of our bloodline. I was born with the power of lightning." She said and nodded towards the red shape, whose red color moved towards the left hand. This woman had her hair up in a high ponytail, like Mirim, but there was a black cloth wrapped around her eyes. Mirim sincerely hoped she had been born blind and not having lost her sight in a fight. Like Maki, she was covered in scars so she sincerely doubted it was a birth defect. The girl shuddered at the thought of having her eyes harmed enough to go blind. She finally pulled herself up on her feet and brushed imaginary dirt off of her clothes.

"Mira. I control fire." Obviously she wasn't one of those talkative women which suited Mirim just fine. "We've forsaken our names. Merely call us by our elements." Maki said and Mirim frowned.

"You're the first born, so you're my great-great grandmother?" She pointed at Maki, who nodded. Then she turned towards Mira. "And you're my great-grandmother?" Another nod.

"Alright… I'll just go and sit down." She felt lightheaded and her feet felt like jelly again. This had to be a dream. A fucked up dream where she could actually _feel _the touch of another but still a dream. All of them were dead. It wasn't possible for her to be able to meet them and talk to them, _touch_ them.

"Okay, now, could any of you tell me where the hell I am?"

"You're within a space shared by the elements." Mirim nodded and waved her mother off. "Yeah, I'm hearing you say that but what and where is that exactly?" The four other Kazemi women looked at each other.

"How I can I see you, talk to you, _touch_ you when you're all…" She trailed off, wondering if perhaps she was crossing a line. It would be more than a little rude to point out that they were all deceased, wouldn't it?

"Dead?" Inazuma deadpanned and Mirim nodded cautiously. "We aren't the only ones." Now Mirim was the one confused.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Mizu asked and Mirim let a hand glide through her locks as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"A war. I was fighting in a war, and then… nothing."

"You are on the verge of death then, I expect." Tsuchi said, her hand moving to her chin as she thought through the situation. Since earth was an element Mirim could use she knew what had happened to the girl. Mizu had also witnessed it and had been devastated. Tsuchi thought she hid it very well now but that may be because she could talk to her daughter, exchange words, a privilege denied her for almost twenty years.

"The sword wound you acquired was incredibly serious, enough to kill you, and then being kicked at the same spot, yes, you are pretty much dead." Inazuma said off-handedly and then the four elements watched Mirim, waiting for a reaction.

"I see. Alright, I can cope with that." That was not the reaction they expected or even wished to witness. Considering her personality, they had expected her to yell out in panic or anger, not to accept it so easily in such a calm had _wanted_ her to yell and scream, to show her anger and frustration, to curse the world or perhaps the man who cut her down.

"What are you saying?" Inazuma grabbed a hold of Mirim's throat and pulled her forward though she didn't choke the poor girl. "Mother!" Hi grabbed a hold of Inazuma's arms but the woman did not let go.

"What do you mean 'you can cope with that'? You are dying, child!" Mirim just stared at her, tempted to yank herself free but stood completely still. The woman wasn't denying her air, not that Mirim was sure she needed it anymore, and she could still talk coherently. How had they expected her to react? What did Inazuma want?

"I lived as a pirate and we're prepared to die at any given moment." She explained calmly. "I fought in a war and died, that's all there is to it." At this Inazuma had no reply to give and shoved the girl away from herself before stomping off and disappearing. Mirim blinked from her seat on the ground. Where had she gone?

"Where did she-"

"You say one thing, Mirim, but do you mean it?" The girl looked up at her mother and stared in confusion. "You say that pirates live their lives prepared to die at any given moment but most of them want to live, don't you think? No one really wants to die. What about you?"

"Yeah, we're ready to die anytime. Of course, we don't want to die, of course we want to live a little longer and I'm no exception. I want to live longer but it's not like I can say: I don't want to die and then I'll be miraculously revived." Mizu stared at her daughter before glancing at the other elements who nodded.

"Do you have any regrets, Mirim?"

"Regrets?" The girl asked. "Is there something you wanted to do before you died?" Oh there were many things she wanted to do before she died, such as making her own family based on blood, getting a higher bounty, causing some havoc in the New World with the crew, returning to Fishman Island to meet up with some old friends, perhaps even one day getting her own crew and ally with the old man to make his fleet stronger. Oh there were so many things that she wanted to do but there was no use in thinking about it now. Actually, who was she thinking about? Who was the crew? Did she know anyone on Fishman Island and who was the old man? Someone close to her? He had to be considering how she thought of him so informally.

"Not that I can remember." She shrugged. "Then think about your life and make closure with what you did achieve while alive." The other three disappeared too and Mirim wondered how they did it. It was actually kind of cool and would have been useful under the war. They could have saved the Commander much quicker if she had that power.

"Commander?" Who was that? She tried to remember but she couldn't place a face. It would have been easier if she had a name to connect to the title. Perhaps it would be best if she tried to remember from the beginning? Untangle the distorted memories like one untangled messy hair, start at the beginning and work your way up. She lay down and thought about her childhood. There were many men and women in it but she couldn't see their faces, all the shadows just blurred together. That was annoying.

"How about later then?" She could see herself much older now, not as a child anymore but teenager. Wow, she really did curse like a sailor and consume alcohol like a swamp would absorb water. Huh, what a joke. Still no faces, but there were a few people who seemed to be more important than the others even if she couldn't see their faces. Perhaps it was because they occurred more frequently than others and weren't distorted blurs?

And then there was that time two years ago- Her eyes shot open wide and she gasped, heaving for breath as it felt like her lungs constricted! She could remember their faces. Goddamn, how could she forget them? She mentally hit herself and shook her head.

"Marco-nii, Jozu-nii, Vista-nii, Thatch-nii, Pops, Commander, Jimbei-nii, Old man Ren, the whole fleet." She said aloud, counting on each finger as she said each name. It gave much more insight now that she could see their faces in her memories.

She remembered how beat up Jimbei had been the first time she had seen Fire Fist Ace. The boy looked no better than the fishman with the exception that he was conscious. She also remembered how Whitebeard flattened the boy before pulling him aboard the ship and having Doc treat him for his injuries. Jimbei had been up on his feet and gone before Ace had woken up. She also remembered with some funny sense of guilt how much fun she had had by beating up the Spade Pirates who came to save their captain.

'_Oh come on, they asked for it. And it's not like we killed them. They joined the crew when Ace did.'_ Still, she had felt a bit guilty when she had accidentally hit Ace's former first mate in the arm that was still in a cast after Ace joined when they were partying. Yeah, he never let her live that one down.

It had also been amusing to see Ace try and fail several times a day to kill Whitebeard until finally Marco talked some sense into the kid before he had gotten himself killed. She wondered, if Ace had by some miracle managed to kill Whitebeard, what did he think would happen? That he and his crew could leave? Obviously the Whitebeard Pirates would have taken revenge, the Spade pirates wouldn't have stood a chance.

She laughed then, remembering how they had celebrated the fact that Ace became the Commander of the Second Division only half a year after he joined the crew. She had become an official Whitebeard Pirate not long after he joined. She'd quickly climbed the ranks too, considering her being raised by the Whitebeard Pirates had enabled her to become quite powerful. Actually, she had heard rumors of Ace requesting her as his Lieutenant. She wondered why, not that she was complaining because of all the incredibly funny and challenging adventures they had partaken in, but she still wondered why. She sighed and sat up. She had led a pretty comfortable and good life with the crew. She wondered if they had saved Ace yet…

'_Of course they have! They're strong! It's not like they'll lose to the Navy!'_ Just like that any fears that had risen up in her were quickly disposed of. She looked around. _'Now that I think about it, this place is pretty calming. Makes me feel at home… just like on the Moby Dick.' _Her heart stung at the thought of Whitebeard's flag ship sinking to the bottom of the bay of a _marine island!_ She fell back onto her back again and closed her eyes. She had found her closure, now all she would ever need to do was laze around in this white space with nothing to do. Now that she thought about it, even if it was calming, comfortable, _home,_ it still sounded boring as fuck being stuck there for all eternity. What was she supposed to do?

"…_im!" _She opened her eyes and frowned before looking around. Was there someone there? No, no one. Perhaps she was going insane? Was it even possible losing one's sanity in the afterlife? Oh well, she wouldn't put it past herself to achieve that sort of miracle, err condition.

"…._Mirim!" _She turned swiftly but found no one and nothing. The voice was familiar though and something in the back of her mind told her that she knew this person and it grated on her nerves that she couldn't place a face to the voice. It was too much of an echo for her to place it to either of her friends.

"Who is it?!" She yelled but there was no answer. This was frightening her! Yes, she thought.

'_I am officially losing my mind in the afterlife.'_ Leave it to her to achieve something so ridiculous. Kazemi P. Mirim, the only person in the world who managed to lose her mind after dying, applause please. While she was yelling for whoever was calling her name to show themselves the four other elements was watching her, some smiling, some frowning and one was downright scowling.

"She's hearing voices." Mizu said and Hi nodded. "She's not ready."

"Whoever is?" Tsuchi chuckled. "Shall we help her then?" Inazuma scoffed but nodded nonetheless.

"If it wasn't for her being family. She'd better grant us an heir before her death or else our lives and sacrifices were for naught!"

The voices echoed around her, calling out to her. Some of them sounded angry, some were sad, some were laughing. What was going on? Was she really going mad even in the afterlife? How was that possible?

"Maybe it's mom and the others?" Who else could it be? She felt surrounded but could see no one, only hear them. Was this some kind of a sick joke? If so, it was _not_ funny! She fell to the floor, sobbing. She didn't know why she was crying, she just was. It felt like the only thing she could do, as if that was the most appropriate response to the yelling but it was so wrong too. She didn't do crying.

"Mirim." The girl turned towards the elements that appeared one by one in the white space.

"Why are you doing this?" She sobbed and shut her eyes tightly. "Why are you tormenting me?" Mizu kneeled beside her daughter and petted her head in a soothing manner. "It's not us."

"Who else is there?" Mirim turned away from her. "Please, just please... stop it, I beg of you."

"You don't understand, Mirim." Tsuchi sighed. "It's not us, it's you."

"What do you mean?" The girl groaned. Why couldn't anyone just say things outright instead of talking in riddles?

"They come from the world of the living." Hi spoke up. "They are calling you."

"But I've been on the verge of death for so long." Mirim rolled onto her back. "I'm pretty sure I'm dead by now. How can I hear anything?"

"That's not necessarily true. The time in this space and the world of the living are different. Hours could pass by here and not even a second would pass in the other world. For all we know not even a minute has passed after you were cut down." Tsuchi explained. Mirim frowned. She didn't get it. What was the difference, why was there a difference?

"Who am I hearing then?"

"Only you know the answer to that question." Hi said.

'_How talkative you suddenly became.'_ Mirim thought but sat up and rubbed her temples. The voices had disappeared during Tsuchi's explanation. She couldn't hear them anymore.

"They're gone-" She began but paused. Were they really? She tried really hard to listen and then heard them again. They were faint but grew louder for each moment that passed.

"_Mirim, my sweet innocent little girl!" _

"_Mirim, get up!" _

"_I got you a new doll." _

"_Look out!" _

"_Look Mirim, a shooting star. Wish for something."_

"_She's not dead!"_

"_No drinking during midday, midget." _

"_You bastard!" _

"_What do you know? She didn't deserve this!" _She realized as she listened that she knew exactly who the voices belonged to.

"It's Marco-nii and the others." She smiled wistfully. "It's memories from when I was a kid but there's some things I don't remember at all..."

"Are you at peace now?" Mizu asked and Mirim nodded. "More so now than I ever have been."

"So you have no more regrets?" Inazuma asked. "There's nothing you wanted to do? Find love and create a family?" Mirim shook her head, although hesitantly. Of course she wanted to do those things but time was up.

"What about the boy who's about to be executed?" She swallowed. "Pops and the others will save him." She said confidently. "Do you not want to aid them?" Hi asked and she Mirim snapped. Why were they questioning her so?

"Of course I want to fucking help them!" She burst out, making the women lean back. "I want to go back there and rip that motherfucking asshole's throat out! I want to save Ace and rub it in their faces that the Navy lost and the pirates won! There's a shitload of things I wanna do and I regret not doing them and if I had the chance I would go back follow through with it! And I'm curious as to why they want me dead because I'm _your _kid! What the hell did you do in your life that caused so much goddamn trouble for the Navy?!" She pointed at Mizu who blinked. Alright, perhaps he had crossed a line there but then all of the elements smirked at her and started to turn back into humanoid shaped colors.

'_God they look freaky like that!'_ She thought.

"When Roger was executed, I regretted not going there to watch his end. There was nothing I could do to save his life but at least I could have been there at the very end." Mizu said quietly. "I had one regret when I died, Mirim, and that was not being able to watch you grow up but I see now that I had nothing to fear." Mirim wasn't quite sure what to say to that short speech. She didn't know her mother had known the Pirate King. all she knew was that her mother knew Whitebeard and had entrusted her, a newborn infant, to the old pirate. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the first Kaxemi woman.

"Live, child." Inazuma said simply and both her and Hi reached out and grabbed her. Inazuma put her hand on Mirim's breastbone while Hi had a tight grip on her left hand. Both areas began to burn painfully and Mirim took one step back with a cry. The pain disappeared as quickly as it had come and Inazuma pushed her back and she felt herself falling into a bottomless pit.

"Live and cause havoc for your enemies!" Before the darkness swallowed her up though she heard her great, great-grandmother yell one last thing. "And do not think you've acquired our power effortlessly!" Whatever the hell that meant. All she knew was that she was falling and she was getting real sick of it.

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Mizu – Water

Tsuchi – Earth

Hi – Fire

Inazuma - Lightning


	18. Chapter 18

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

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Dracule Mihawk never doubted himself and he had never regretted a decision he had made during his entire life. He did not regret becoming a pirate, he did not regret pursuing the art of swordsmanship and he did not regret becoming a Shichibukai. He had never regretted anything he had done during his life at all, especially not his meeting with Roronoa Zoro. Now there was an opponent who would prove to be a challenge when his power would be fully matured. While there had been times when boredom had seized him and he had let an opponent get away unintentionally he had not regretted it even if they came back for his head again later. They were simply nuisances he could get rid of later, not that he could remember every fly he swatted down, something that became very clear when, during this hellish battle, several enemies swarmed him, claiming to have a grudge against him because he had defeated them in battle once or twice before yet he could not recall their faces.

But right now that foreign emotion forced itself into his chest, even if was for just a moment, a second.

He had let the girl go on forward even though he knew that the opponents waiting by the platform were way out of her league. He had let her go because that was what she had wanted and because he knew that the wind itself could neither be caught nor tamed. No matter what he would have said, she would not have given up. From the day he had come across her as a child, not knowing where she had landed when she stood outside the castle on the island named Kuraigana years ago to now, he had known her to be confident, extremely blunt and honest, stubborn and kind, though she did curse like a sailor.

Now he felt a twinge of regret. Perhaps he shouldn't have let her pass. Perhaps he should have stepped into her path and kept her from reaching the platform. He could have at least tried to deter her from her objective, or delayed her a bit so the admiral would have focused his attention on her crewmates instead of her. Perhaps then she wouldn't have gotten noticed by Sengoku, perhaps then she wouldn't have exhausted herself by defeating Kizaru. All of these were speculations and Mihawk only stared as she fought Garp the Hero, he only stared when she threw the old marine into the fray of warring marines and pirates and he only stared as the girl climbed the supporters of the platform her friend was chained to.

The regret disappeared as he found closure in the fact that the girl would have done anything to get past him, she would have turned into her element and passed him by in the blink of an eye, like she had done in the past, like a breath of air he couldn't grasp with his hands.

He could only watch as the girl made a futile attempt to ward off the Fleet Admiral to preserve her own and Fire Fist Ace's lives. He watched as her weapon was cleaved in half along with her, and watched as she pathetically tried to reach for her comrade before she was kicked away to land on the edge of the platform. As her arm fell to hang awkwardly and still from the edge of the platform he pulled the brim of his hat down to cover his closed eyes, muttering a small prayer.

"Rest in peace, Mirim." Now she was truly free, like her element described her to be.

"Death God Mirim is now dead!" Sengoku announced through the den den mushi and Mihawk glared at the Fleet Admiral. "Destroy the pirates completely!" The man did not have to announce the death of the woman in such a manner and then proceed to mock her death by proclaiming they would eradicate the pirates, her family.

"She's not dead!" A pirate yelled desperately. "You bastard!" Another one yelled.

"Mirim!" Several screamed simultaneously and Mihawk could only stare at them, the pirates she had talked about with such reverence and love the times she had visited him and understood what she had meant when she said they were her friends and family. None of them would accept her death, not until they were staring at her corpse themselves. They had absolute faith in her powers and abilities, respected her, _loved _her and he wondered; when was the last time he had seen such a crew? One crew came to mind, but there was only the one.

"_She's not dead!_" But still, if they repeatedly yelled such things instead of continuing this fight then they would also be mocking her passing and would be no better than the Navy that had hunted her until the end. If they stopped fighting now her death would be in vain. He raised his sword and released an attack to get their attention.

"If you believe in her, then continue to fight!" He declared with narrowed eyes. Then there was a flash of light and screams of anger and anguish could be heard.

"_No!"_

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I was planning on ending the chapter when he muttered the prayer but hell, it was so short I had to add a little something extra.


	19. Chapter 19

**Since the last chapter was rather short, I'll update this extra one, I hope you'll enjoy.**

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

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When she was a child she had often been experimenting with her power. She learned quickly that she could fly, like her older brother Marco, but there was a limit to how much she could control it. When she was around ten, she had miscalculated and ended up in the East Blue waters, far from the Grand Line. That had been a failure and she had been thoroughly scolded for it, even grounded, because she had worried the old captain, almost giving him a heart attack. While she had been ashamed of that fact there was one thing that that was just as important to her.

She could travel long distances without even feeling the strain. The thought had made her giddy but she couldn't risk worrying Whitebeard again so she had told him each time she had gathered enough courage to try it out. While he had reluctantly agreed to allow her to experiment as long as she told him in advance he still found it a bit risky. What if she got hurt, what if she was attacked, what if the Navy found her and connected the dots to her uncanny resemblance to her mother? There were so many dangers in the world he really didn't like the thought of her going off on her own. Luckily for him, so he could avoid the hissy fit she would throw should he refuse her, there were ways for him to track her even if she was no longer on the ship. Her clothes and belongings were taken with her, she had explained to him and therefore he could plant a Vivre Card on her.

And so he proceeded to make a Vivre Card for her. Once it was done he explained what it was and how it worked and she took it, ripping it in half and handing Whitebeard one half of it while tucking the other half into her pocket. He then proceeded to hand her a part of his own Vivre Card, so she could easily find her way back.

"Now I can go on if I want to?" She asked politely and he nodded. Now as she experimented with her power she never went as far as out of the Grand Line again, to the Blue Seas. No, she kept to the First Half of the Grand Line and always managed to return without having her brothers out looking for her but then, only days before her fifteenth birthday it had happened.

"She's gone." Whitebeard stared at Jozu. "What do you mean _she's gone_?" The Third Division Commander sighed.

"She's not in her room pops. She told me two days ago that she was getting the hang of her long distance travelling technique as she calls it and that she was going to try again later."

"So you're trying to tell me that she didn't return?" Jozu nodded. The old captain pulled out the Vivre Card and stared at it long and hard. It was moving and whole, causing him to sigh in somewhat relief before pocketing it again.

"I'm worried pops. She's usually back the day after she leaves at the latest." Jozu rubbed his neck tiredly and the captain laughed. "I know the feeling son, but Mirim is fine. She'll come back during the day, I'm sure."

"If you say so pops." If Whitebeard was calm then Jozu couldn't argue. While it was true that Whitebeard rarely was worried it was different when it came to the girl they were raising. Ever since the day she was born Whitebeard had been extremely careful and overprotective of the child. Jozu could understand, since she was just a kid who wasn't all that strong yet. They had grudgingly agreed to teach her how to defend herself should something happen and right now he was glad they had done so. As long as the captain was calm then everything would be alright.

**Innocence**

She had never been here before. Mirim looked around and scratched the back of her head.

"Well, this place is gloomy as hell." She said aloud. The sky was dark even though she was pretty sure it was daytime and the island seemed deserted. The only thing she could find were ruins everywhere and the unique and funny hills.

"How did they get so bent and swirly?" She wondered as she travelled down one of the many paths. They were still fresh so she guessed the island hadn't been abandoned a long time ago. The farther she walked the stronger the smell that hung in the air became and she had to cover her nose.

'_This place stinks. It reeks of blood and death.'_ It really couldn't have been long since a tragedy had occurred on this island since the scent was still so strong. She felt she was being watched and hurried her steps, looking around for some part of civilization that _wasn't _a ruin. It proved to be futile for many hours before she finally saw something in the distance that looked to be intact.

"Is that a castle?" She stared for a few moments before taking off into a sprint. Since it looked to still be quite sturdy she hoped that there would be someone there to tell her where she was. She had never landed on an abandoned island before and it unsettled her. The moment she reached the doors she felt that the eyes disappeared and she relaxed her tensed muscles.

'_Really, really creepy!'_ She thought and knocked on the door. There was no response and she opened it, cautiously poking her head inside. "Hello? Is there anybody here?" She called and walked inside, closing the door behind her. Again there was no response to be heard and it was dark inside.

"An abandoned castle. Creepy much?" She said and walked down the halls, looking around. There were candles lit in a few rooms and she was happy to know that the castle wasn't abandoned. Now, if she could find whoever lived there then that would be great. A door opened and she swung around and found that her jaw dropped to the floor, and for very good reasons.

'_No. way. In. hell.'_ She thought. She had _not _just stumbled into the home of the greatest swordsman of all times. The strongest man in the world was _not_ standing in front of her with a towel over his shoulders with hair dripping wet. And she was _not _finding the man hot, she wasn't!

'_He's the same age as Marco-nii, if not older!'_ She reminded herself and mentally slapped herself a few times. It was not her fault that he had to be so good looking! She was just a teenage girl, her hormones were out of control, she couldn't help it, dammit! The man wasn't wearing a shirt, for gods sake!

"Who are you?" The swordsman demanded and she shuddered at his voice, .

'_No I didn't!'_

"I'm Mirim." She answered just as bluntly, though it took great effort. Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "And what are you doing here, Ms. Mirim?" A well-mannered man, she noted. A well-mannered man who could kill her in the blink of an eye…

"I got lost, Mr. Mihawk." She replied and he stared at her. "You know who I am?"

"I would be a fool not to, sir." He walked straight past her and sat down in a chair, picking up the newspaper that had been lying on the table.

"How do you know me? As a Shichibukai?" He asked. That was how most people knew him now-a-days. "As the world's greatest swordsman, sir." Now that was surprising. "How?"

'_Really? He's going to question me about everything?'_ She thought in annoyance but found it best to answer anyway. "One of my elder brothers' sir. He admires your swordsmanship and wants to cross blades with you."

"Does he now?" He looked up at the girl. "Is he a capable fighter?" Though he suspected she would most likely fuss over her brother's talent with the sword, making it appear he was much stronger than he actually was yet her sentence was short and simple.

"Very much so sir." Mihawk noted that while her answers were short and precise she was using a polite tone. He could also see that the girl did not enjoy it. "Calm down child, I will not hurt you."

"I'm not afraid you." He stared at her. "It would be foolish of you not to be." He replied, his voice low. A sentence that contradicted with his claim of not hurting her. Mirim admitted she could feel a chill crawl up her spine.

"You misunderstand. I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of your skill." This girl seemed to be full of surprises and it amused him. On this island which he had made his home not even a year ago things moved slowly. There were no humans, only animals. It was perfect for him because there was no one to bother him though boredom would sometimes set in. He wondered where this girl had come from so suddenly. He would have known if a ship had anchored on the island and there was none but his own. It was like she had appeared out of thin air.

"My skill?"

"Yes."

"Elaborate." Another demand and she huffed, much to his amusement. Her polite façade was cracking. "You're powerful. Your skill has no equal from what I've been told. It's like you're a part of a different world than the rest of us. I'm afraid of your power because I don't know what would happen if it was in the wrong hands."

"And are they?"

"No." He blinked. Either she was a very intuitive girl or she knew someone who knew him well. There weren't many in the world who did. Maybe she knew Shanks… "From what my brother tells me you're an honorable man who cares little for the power struggles between 'justice' and 'evil'." She quoted with her hands.

"And you're a pirate." She added. "Why does that fact reassure you?" Now he was curious. Why would the fact that he was a pirate calm her instead of frightening her?

"Because my whole family is a pirate crew."

"Aren't you a bit too young to be a pirate?" He asked while returning his attention to the newspaper. "I'm not a pirate yet. I'm just being raised by a pirate crew."

"And what crew would this be?" He truly was intrigued by this child. Being raised by pirates? He wondered what kind of crew would take care of a child. Who would bother raising a child on the Grand Line and New World, where danger was lurking around every corner, where there was no safe place to hide?

"Would you rat me out to the Navy or the World Government if I told you?" He looked up. "Why would I do that?" She shrugged.

"I've been told not to tell anyone who would betray me and sell me out." While the notion was insulting he could understand why. Apparently the crew that took care of her were careful for some reason. Either they really cared about her and she was hiding some kind of secret or they were only using her. He didn't know what kind of thing they could use her for though.

"Again, why would I _rat you out_ as you so eloquently put it?" She glared at him and he found it hard to stop the smirk from forming on his face. "You're a Shichibukai." She deadpanned and he nodded.

"A fair point, though if it pleases you, I'll have you know that the Shichibukai and the Government does not get along very well. I have no reason to tell them about your existence." She seemed to be satisfied with that answer and he poured himself a glass of wine, raising the glass to his mouth.

"My guarding is Whitebeard." He halted his movements and turned his head to fully stare at her. Now _that_ he didn't expect. She really was full of surprises.

'_So it's a crew that cares for her.'_ He thought. She had his attention. "Still not going to rat me out?"

"No." He replied and she shrugged. "Okay." She said simply and flopped down on the table. Mihawk thought that had he been in her situation he would not be as carefree as she was. Either she was confident in whatever abilities she had or she was too blind to realize the threat he could be should he set his mind to it.

"What are you doing?" He asked after a few moments. "Taking a nap, what does it look like?"

"And if I have more questions?"

"Fire away. Won't guarantee that I will answer though." Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea to turn her back to him just so she wouldn't drool all over him. Having turned her back to him she could only hear his voice and it was so deep, calm and sexy.

'_Don't go there, goddammit! Fucking hormones!'_

"You're intruding in my home."

"I can leave."

"I would rather not be attacked by the Whitebeard Pirates because you walked out the door and got yourself killed on my island." He said nonchalantly and she glanced over her shoulder.

"What's going to kill me?" She asked in confusion. "There are animals on this island which has the knowledge to wield weapons. You wouldn't last a day."

'_Oh no he didn't! Hot body and voice be damned, he did _not_ just call me a weakling!'_ She turned her head the other way around and took a deep breath. She needed to calm down before she did something she would regret. While she had been told that Mihawk was an honorable man there was no guarantee that he wouldn't rough her up, being a dog of the Government and all.

"What do you want to know, _sir_?" He decided to ignore the mocking tone she used. "I'm curious about this brother of yours who wants to cross blades with me. Who is it?" This didn't sound like a demand but genuine curiosity and she didn't feel the need to beat around the bush.

"Vista-nii." She replied. "Flower-Blades Vista." She said, so he would understand who it was she was talking about.

"Ah. Then I understand by what you meant by him being a capable swordsman." She sat up and stared at him. "You know of him?"

"I would be a fool not to."

"Oh har har, throw my words back in my face, why don't you." She rolled her eyes before tensing slightly. _'Smooth rainbow brains! Why don't you turn into a smartass in front of a man who could kill you before you even knew what was going on!'_ The swordsman surprised her by chuckling instead of glaring.

"You have a sharp mind, Ms. Mirim, as well as an equally sharp tongue." She blushed red in embarrassment but tried to hide it behind a cough. "I think it's better to be frank instead of beating around the bush. Less chance of someone misinterpreting me. I would rather deal with their anger at once instead of having it accumulate over time because they thought I was lying or something."

"Not a bad philosophy." Mihawk nodded and she stared at him. "You're weird." He choked on the wine and coughed, trying to regain his bearings. He had been called many things, monster, pirate scum, government dog and so forth but never once had he been called weird.

"Best reaction ever!" The girl laughed at him and he stared at her incredulously. Had she not just minutes ago feared him? No, he reminded himself. It was his power she feared and not him.

'_How… refreshing.'_ He realized that he liked the thought. The girl was amusing, had a sharp tongue and mind, quick witted and honest. She reminded him of himself when he was young, except he had been a tad more serious than her. He wasn't the kind who burst out laughing for every little thing nor dropped his guard when in the presence of someone who could turn on him.

"Well, I'm off." She jumped off the table and moved towards the door.

"Already?"

"What, you want me to stay?" He shrugged. "You are an amusing person, Ms. Mirim, and this island do tend to become boring." She paused for a moment.

"How about I come back at a later time for a chat then?" He pondered the idea before nodding. "That would be satisfactory." She grinned at him then. "Alright, I've decided. I won't tell pops or the others about you."

"Why not?" Now this was confusing. "If I do they probably won't let me go, you being a dog of the Government and all." He burst out laughing at the comment and waved her off.

"Do what you want."

"I always do." And with the soft click of the door her presence disappeared from the island. He leaned back in his chair and chuckled. "An amusing child indeed. How long until the Navy realizes she's alive? Fifteen years..." He looked up at the ceiling.

"Looks just like her mother."


	20. Chapter 20

I feel like this chapter isn't all that special... I hope you'll like it anyway though.

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

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"Death God Mirim is dead!" Sengoku called through the den den mushi. "Now destroy the pirates completely!" He ignored the pirates who yelled the girl's name over and over again, refusing to believe that the Lieutenant of the Second Division had fallen even if they had witnessed it with their own eyes. Ace stared at the girl whose body was balancing on the edge of the platform. He wished for her to get up, he willed for her to get up but she didn't move. He stared for a few more moments before he turned to glare viciously at Sengoku, who noticed the glare.

"What is it, Fire Fist?" He asked as casually as if they were talking about the weather and Ace felt white-hot rage build up in him.

"How dare you?" The freckled man grit out. "How dare you?" Sengoku wondered why he was reacting like this. It was obvious that cutting down the woman had upset him, the Fleet Admiral could even understand why, but this man's comrades had been falling for over an hour and first now he seemed furious with the Fleet Admiral.

"Death God Mirim had an incredible bounty on her head. It was inevitable that she would die in this war, just as it is inevitable that none of you survives this day."

"Screw you! How could you kill her!" Ace screamed. "She was my friend." He said in a more quiet tone, his glare sending chills down the spines of even the bravest of men but Sengoku held his ground.

"A friend? Perhaps she was but she was still a pirate, a person who's against justice and wreaks havoc. That is the only thing you pirates are; trouble and a threat against the people."

"What do you know? You aren't a pirate, you don't know how a pirates life is so stop judging us all based on a goddamn stereotype!" The skies thundered then, gaining everyone's attention. Sengoku looked up with a frown. There wasn't to be a storm this day. What was going on? Then the lightning struck, both down in the plaza and on the platform. Mirim's body was hit directly and caught fire along with the platform.

"Mirim!" Ace couldn't believe it. Did the universe really despise them that much that it would even destroy the corpses of his friends without them having their deserved funerals? "Put out the fire!" Sengoku ordered behind him.

"The platform must not be destroyed!" Who the hell gave a shit about the platform? Mirim's body was- wait, something was moving within the inferno. The shadow disappeared and he thought it was merely a trick of the eye until Garp yelled from the battlefield.

"Sengoku! Above you!"

Mihawk had noticed it only a split second before Garp. The lightning had struck, a fire had broken out and then something was moving within the fire, quickly disappearing. It had neither gone forward nor backwards, left nor right. That only left one option. He looked up and smirked.

The Fleet Admiral looked up sharply as he heard Garps' call and his eyes widened. He lifted his sword and barely managed to block the scythe aiming for his skull. He deflected it and the girl landed a few feet away from him.

"How are you alive?" He questioned and she straightened her back. The sight made everyone who could see her widen their eyes in horror. Her wound was aflame, burning fiercely and the stench of scorched flesh invaded their noses. It was horrible. Still, Mirim's expression remained blank, as if she wasn't aware of the pain or even conscious and she charged again, attacking from beneath him this time, sending him up in the air. She followed closely, not giving him time to adjust though he did manage to block her attack from above again. Then her eyes cleared as the fire died away, revealing that her wound had been sealed with the fire.

"Go to hell." She replied to his earlier question, showing that she was in no way inclined to give him a real answer, and kicked him down from the platform. Ace could barely believe his eyes as he watched her land on the platform, stumbling a bit showing that she was not completely fine as her expression made him believe. She still had a lot of damage. She hadn't been miraculously revived back to the state before she was cut down.

"You're alive?" The girl grinned at him as she moved towards the chained man and kneeled down behind him, pulling a hairpin out from her hair and began tinkering with the seastone cuffs. They really were harder to pick than normal handcuffs.

"I'd rather stay alive with you guys than being stuck in the afterlife with an old hag with anger management issues." She shrugged though Ace didn't understand the joke. Mirim herself though could picture how the first born Kazemi would yell at her should she ever hear what she had said. She also noticed that Ace's hands clenched into fists which brought her attention from the cuffs to him.

"Just get out of here, Mirim… I don't want to see you getting hurt again… Any of you. Just… all of you should just run away." He sounded exhausted and she frowned before grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at her.

"What's with that stubborn attitude of yours?" She questioned in annoyance. "Now that I reached you I can't just leave you, what would the meaning of that be? It's just stupid."

"As your Commander I order you to withdraw!" He tried and she raised an eyebrow. "And as your Lieutenant I'm telling you to shove those words where the sun doesn't shine, _Commander_." She deadpanned.

"What's my reason for surviving this shit if I left you behind, you stupid oaf?" She released his face and let her head rest against his back, sighing. "I'm tired okay? Just shut up, do as I say and let us rescue you, alright? I'm not in the mood to argue with you." She stayed like that for a moment before she looked up over his shoulder and moved up on her feet, staggering only slightly and moved to the edge of the platform, raising an arm as the sky began to light up again.

"Inazuma." Her wrist flickered down and a shower of lightning rained down on the warring forces. "I came back because of you, the crew, our captain, our friends, our _family._ If it wasn't for any of you I would have accepted death but I can't do it because you're still alive so don't go dying on me because I need a reason to live."

"That's selfish." Ace chuckled humorlessly behind her. "I don't really give a damn." She replied as she watched the lightning rain down. The only drawback was that she hadn't mastered the element, she was only borrowing it and therefore she couldn't control it well. She couldn't stop it from hitting the pirates.

"Impossible." Whitebeard stared at the sky, watched the lightning rain down on both his men and the Navy. When had Mirim learned how to call on lightning? Since she had no control it couldn't have been a long time ago. He turned his eyes on the platform and watched as Mirim fell back into a sitting position, exhaustion covering her features. She was drained, completely and totally drained of energy, and he couldn't blame her. She had acquired many wounds, only one of them was life-threatening, but she had fought hard like the rest of them and had managed to reach the platform, she had managed to get to Ace and she had managed to remove both Garp and Sengoku. That in itself was an achievement, for she was far too young to take part in the war for his taste.

God, her chest hurt. It hurt like hell! She crawled behind Ace to continue to try to pick the lock and Ace followed her with his eyes.

"When did you learn to control lightning and fire?"

"I never did. I was just allowed to use them both once." She replied as the markings left her chest and left hand and he nodded, even if he didn't understand what was going on. All he knew was that the girl was exhausted. Then a shadow loomed over them and he gasped. Mirim had noticed it too because she was quickly up on her feet, glaring up at Sengoku.

"Impressive will to live, Death God. Still, you will not win this war." She charged at him and they exchanged blows, locked in a heated battle.

"We will win this war, Fleet Admiral, no matter what you say." Mirim grabbed a dagger as she swung her scythe at Sengoku who deflected it. She let go of the handle and let the scythe fly into the air as she moved forward to stab the man. She managed to cut through the thick material of his jacket but he moved away just in time to save his arm.

"You're wide open!" Sengoku raised his sword but she yanked her arm back and he saw the chain wrapped around it. He crouched low and felt the blade of her scythe pass over him. Then, the moment she had a firm grip on her weapon, she raised her arm and slashed downward but Sengoku rolled out of the way.

'_Goddamn, stand still and die already.'_ Mirim thought while breathing heavily. The wound on her chest was throbbing and it hurt and was meddling with her concentration. She couldn't fight like this, she would falter because of the pain and the difficulty of gathering air in her lungs.

"What's the matter, Death God? You seem out of breath."

"Har har, old man." She snarled at him, crouching down but he stood tall. "You could always back out, though I don't think you'll get far."

"Are you stupid or are you trying to insult me?" She snarled at him but he didn't miss a beat. "Your mother certainly didn't find it difficult to abandon others to save herself."

"What?" She froze, eyes widening in disbelief. Sengoku took advantage of her surprise and ploughed on.

"Your mother certainly had no problem in abandoning her comrades for the sake of her own safety." The words stung but Mirim found herself battling his words. _'That's not true! Buggy told me about mom, pops told me about mom and she was nothing like that!'_

"You fucking liar, you'd better shut up before I rip your vocal cords out!"

"Didn't Whitebeard ever tell you about your father?" Sengoku ignored her threat and she glared at him. "I never asked." She shot back though her voice sounded more hesitant and uncertain than she wanted it to. She was losing her focus and she knew it. She had to keep him occupied so he would keep his mouth shut.

"Your father died because your mother abandoned him in battle." It felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been had been emptied over her, drenching her and she stared at him long and hard, swallowing.

"What kind of bullshit are you throwing at me? You'd better stop before I bury you alive." She growled and again he ignored her threat. "Whitebeard really didn't tell you? Then I'll do so. Let this be a wakeup call to how scum like you really are like."

'_He did _not_ go there, the bastard!'_

"Twenty years ago Kazemi P. Maya and Kayien Kouji encountered one of our forces and were forced to battle them, since escape was impossible. As any human being they began to tire as the fight only wore on and when she realized that it was futile she left Kayien to die." The Lieutenant of the Second Division stared wide eyed at the Fleet Admiral. He was lying. He was _lying_, her mother had not abandoned her father for the sake of her own life. Her mother had been a good person, Whitebeard had said so, Buggy had said so, hell, everyone she had encountered that knew her mother had said so!

'_But no one told you about your father.'_ A traitorous voice whispered in the back of her mind.

"You're lying!" She screamed and charged forward but he dodged her wild swing and punched her in her stomach, barely missing the wound he had inflicted on her when she had climbed the platform. She cried out at the pain and collapsed onto the floor, struggling to regain her breath as her limbs flailed around.

"Kayien was defeated and slain but when we began the hunt for your mother it was already too late. It was like she had disappeared from the face of the earth." Sengoku walked past her and to Ace, who was also fiercely glaring at the man. At least the Fleet Admiral wasn't announcing this over the den den mushi. He threw a worried glance at Mirim who was spitting blood but at least she was managing to get up on her hands and knees. She was still conscious.

"Though only a month later it was reported that the marine captain who led the assault on your parents had been killed, drowned in his own office. The method used was proof enough that it was your mother who had done the deed."

"How the hell is drowning any proof?" Mirim wheezed. "The way it was done." Sengoku answered and turned towards her, turning his back to the battle raging in the plaza.

"There was not a trace of water in the office except for a few empty bottles. She drowned him by controlling the water and shoving it down his throat and filling his lungs without having to hold his head beneath the water. There was no trace of a fight. Quite the ability she had. But because of that we had a lead. She was somewhere in the East Blue waters, in other words, her home territory."

"Shut up!" She yelled and ran forward but her defenses were low, she was exhausted and in pain, confused and an easy target. The tall man easily wrenched her weapons from her hands and grabbed her throat, lifting her up from the ground. Mirim's hands immediately went to his wrist and she clawed at him but he did not let her go.

"We had a lead and discovered a few months later that she had family in East Blue, a brother and his wife. We tracked their location and surrounded the house but when we entered the residence there was no one there. We searched their home but there was no trace that they had abandoned the home, until we found a hidden passageway. They knew we were coming and escaped through it but they had not gone far. We managed to catch up to them and then your mother escaped by abandoning her brother and his wife."

Mirim realized something.

"_It is not your fault! Never blame yourself for her death! If it wasn't for the marines she would have lived." _It was the day she had been born! Sengoku was telling her about the day she had been born and how they had killed her uncle and aunt while trying to kill her mother! He was telling her what they had done to her family before her birth.

"It's _your_ fault!" She screamed and began to trash to get out of his grip. "_They're dead because of you!_" Sengoku grew tired of her trashing and punched her directly on the wound and her eyes widened considerably and she screamed her heart out in pain, trashing only for a few more moments before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell limp but one thought was now burned into her mind.

'_It's their fucking fault!'_

Revenge breeds hatred, and hatred breeds more vengeance.

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Inazuma - Lightning


	21. Chapter 21

I posted this chapter early because of the praise I received from Ezaria. Thank you for your kind review, you bolstered my confidence. Now, please don't kill me for this. xD

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

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The second time Mirim visited the abandoned island Mihawk had made his home, she was pleasantly surprised to see that there was an extra chair in the room where he made himself comfortable every day and ate his food. There were no lights though. The room was completely dark and there was no one there.

"Perhaps he's out." She had time to spare though. She jumped into the chair and made herself comfortable. God the cushions were soft, almost felt like she was in her bed on the Moby Dick. Actually, she thought as she felt a bit drowsy, the chair was much more comfortable than her bed.

'_A tiny nap couldn't hurt.'_ She thought and fell asleep.

When she did open her eyes again the sky was dark outside but the room was lit up by candles and Mihawk was sitting in his chair, a book in his lap and a glass of wine in his hand. "Hey." She sat up in the chair, letting her feet fall to the ground. Apparently she had curled up in a fetal position in her sleep.

"Good evening." He nodded. "How long was I asleep?" He shrugged.

"I don't know. A few hours, I believe."

"Huh, well now I've officially screwed up my sleeping pattern." She rolled her shoulders and heard her joints pop. "Was there something you wanted, Mirim?"

"Huh? Oh, well no not really. I just thought I could pay you a visit, since I've got nothing better to do."

"So I exist only to kill time for you?" He raised an eyebrow and she cocked her head to the side. "Isn't that how you look at everything in this world?"

"Touché." He chuckled and she laughed with him. "But no, you're not. Not really. I just came to pay you a visit because you said it was alright." She shrugged and he nodded.

"I did, didn't I?"

"Yeah." And so an awkward silence followed. Well for Mirim it felt awkward. Mihawk was sipping his wine and reading his book. For the first few minutes, she only sat in the chair, staring at Mihawk. It was not her fault that even though he was almost forty he had the body of- she was not going to continue that train of thought. She looked away quickly before he would notice that she was staring before glancing at him real quick before proceeding to look everywhere but him.

'_He is very handsome though.'_ She allowed herself to think that one thought. It was a fact, not just her hormones having a field trip. She got up on her feet and looked around the room. While it didn't house much furniture and was spacious it didn't feel empty. It may have been because of the swordsman in the same room. His spirit was impressive, it was actually quite suffocating, she wouldn't have been able to handle it if it wasn't for her being raised by powerful pirates. She experienced their power every day and it had hardened her own will to the point that she was able to withstand even Red-Hair Shanks' haki if he didn't use the full force of it.

She was proud of that achievement.

"How have you been?" She turned and raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked confused.

"I randomly come to visit you and you, the greatest swordsman in the world, ask me how I'm doing?"

"Is it not the most sensible thing to do?"

"You're weird." He stared at her, not amused. "How am I _weird_, as you so eloquently put it?"

"It's just not something I expected you to ask." She shrugged. "But if you must know, I've been well. Life aboard the Moby Dick has been quiet the last few months. Not been many pirate crews who wanted to take pops' head lately."

"Do you expect an attack often?" Mihawk asked while turning a page.

"More than once a month at least." The girl answered. "Mostly weaklings who are overconfident. It's somewhat fun when a crew attacks though."

"Why?" He looked up at her. He would have thought that being attacked often would be a hassle and a waste of supplies, if one didn't count in that they would raid the offending crew's supply storage.

"I get to fight. Marco-nii and the others have taught me how to defend myself and I've learned how to use a weapon left to me by my mother. Something is happening, you know. I love just sailing with the crew, don't get me wrong, but I feel more useful when I fight. I get to protect them for a change and it feels good to be able to pay them back for everything they've done for me since I was a baby." He nodded. He could understand how a young mind like hers could enjoy a fight. She was a spirit that enjoyed a thrill, who liked the thought of danger and excitement.

"What?" She stared at him and he shook his head. "It is nothing."

"Alright. Now you tell me something!" He blinked. "Tell you what?"

"Anything! For example, what the hell is it out there on the island watching me every time I come here? I feel eyes on me when I walk the roads until I reach the castle."

"That would be the humandrill."

"Humandrill?" Mirim had never heard of the term before and Mihawk explained that they were baboons with the ability to imitate human behavior. Because of the war that had been raged on the island before Mihawk had made it his home the humandrill had learned from humanity's violent behavior and taught themselves how to wield weapons.

"Are they dangerous?"

"They are strong, yes and the longer you fight them the more they imitate your own techniques. That they haven't attacked you yet is fortunate for you."

"I take it they're the sort that shots first and asks questions later?"

"That is a way to put it." Mihawk shrugged and she pursed her lips, falling deep in thought. "That's the animals with weapons you were talking about last time, right?" He nodded but did not look up from his book. She moved to inspect the rest of the castle while he busied himself with literature. She realized that the castle was quite big when she managed to find herself on the roof. It gave her a good view of the island, noticing that it was quite big itself.

"I have a habit of ending up in the oddest places." She mused as she took in the scenery. She still wondered how the hills had become so twisted. Perhaps Mihawk would know. And perhaps he wouldn't tell her even if he did.

She stayed there for several days this time and questions were thrown back and forth, giving each of them a tiny piece of information of the other each time. They learned what the sore subjects were and what was acceptable to ask. Mihawk learned that while talking about the Whitebeard Pirates made Mirim's mood light up like the sun itself, mentioning her real family was a no-go.

"Why are you with the Whitebeard Pirates?" He had asked on the fifth day causing her to look up from a book she had borrowed from him. "Where else would I go?" She answered his question with another one and he shook his head.

"What I meant was; where is your mother and father?" She visibly tensed at his question and buried her face in the book. "Don't know about my father, but my mom handed me over to Whitebeard and left, the end."

"I'm sorry." Mihawk apologized and gave his sympathies. "Save it. My mom dumped me on a pirate ship and I'm happy she did. Don't need real parents when I've got the crew." Her tone was curt and low but he wasn't deaf. She was lying. It was a subject she didn't want him to bring up again and since he respected another person's privacy he never brought up the subject again. He learned the truth years later, when Mirim had come unannounced as usual, with red and puffy eyes as if she had just cried, and told him what Whitebeard had told her when she had asked about her mother.

Her mother died because she bled out after giving birth to Mirim. The girl was blaming herself for her mother's death. A terrible burden to bear for anyone, especially for Mirim, who had without realizing it, resented her mother for leaving her behind.

That was why the hawkeyed man, when he heard her scream in fury from the top of the execution platform before being knocked unconscious by Sengoku, knew what she was accusing the Fleet Admiral of. He wondered, as the old marine dropped the unconscious pirate to the ground, if she found closure in the fact that she wasn't the cause of Kazemi P. Maya's death. Or perhaps she still saw herself as a big factor leading to the other woman's death?

He only knew that if she kept this up, having herself knocked down again and again, he would never know the answer.


	22. Chapter 22

**One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.**

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Mirim was scared. Oh so very scared. She had had a terrible nightmare about being in a war between pirates and marines and that the Moby Dick had sunk in the bay of some island. It was horrifying to think that her home could be so easily destroyed and so many people had died. She stared at the wall in her room, the thunder roaring outside in the storm making her jump each time it resonated throughout the ship. The lightning lit up the room and made the shadows big and threatening. Even the shadows of the chairs in the room looked like monsters.

Now she had another reason to be scared.

'_What if there's monsters under my bed?_´ Now she was terrified. She had to get out but what if the monsters attacked her when she left her covers? Marco's room wasn't far from hers, she remembered. If she could get to him then he would protect her from the monster. She took a deep breath and shoved the blankets off of her, raced to the door, slammed it open and ran.

'_It's coming, it's coming!'_ She thought as she heard the thunderous roars behind her, and the shadows stretched out, and seemed to be huge claws grasping after her. She opened Marco's door and slammed it behind her. Said Commander sat up quickly, pulling his covers off of him, ready to fend off whoever was attacking before he blinked. There was no one there. He stared at the door for a few moments before he shrugged and moved to grab his blanket when he noticed something; It wasn't there. He turned around and stared at Mirim who had wrapped herself in his blanket, huddling close to the wall.

"What are you doing, oy?" He asked at last and she shushed him. "There are monsters under my bed. They want to eat me. I'm hiding here." He blinked before sighing.

"Mirim, there are no such thing as monsters hiding under your bed, oy." He said and she shook her head. "There is! Thatch-nii told me so! There are monsters under the beds of bad children and he told me I was bad today when I surprised him!" She said hastily before looking around.

'_You're a dead man, Thatch.'_ Marco thought before he yawned. "You're not a bad kid Mirim and there are no monsters who wants to eat you."

"Are you sure?" He nodded. "Pinky promise?" She held out her pinky and he linked his with hers. "Pinky promise, oy." She calmed down some but still looked around, a bit unsure.

"But there are monsters hiding under my bed!" Marco facepalmed with a groan. Yes, he would kill Thatch in the morning, he really would.

"There are no such thing as monsters, Mirim." He tried to explain to her but she gave him a pointed look. "And what are the Sea Kings?" He opened his mouth and then closed it again. She had a point. They were insanely huge for fish.

"That would be like calling fishmen for monsters too." He said and she gasped, covering her mouth. "I'm sorry!" He would have laughed if he wasn't so tired. He really just wanted to go back to sleep but as long as this bundle of nervous energy stayed awake so would he. Not by choice, but because the girl wouldn't let him sleep for fear of being left alone in the night when there were _monsters_ after her.

"There are no monsters under your bed, oy. Now go back to sleep midget." She frowned at him before poking her fingers together. "I'm afraid, Marco-nii." He sighed and rubbed his face. He was tired and knew that to get Mirim to go back to her own room and sleep he had to accompany her and stay with her until she dozed off. He really didn't feel like getting up so he came up with an idea that would let him go back to sleep immediately.

"How about I let you sleep in here with me tonight then? I'll keep you safe, oy."

"Really?" He nodded and she hugged him. "Thank you Marco-nii." He grabbed his blanket and pulled it off of her but she would not let go of it.

"Mirim?"

"I… I didn't bring my own blanket." She muttered and stared at her feet. At this point Marco really didn't care anymore. "Let's share, oy." She nodded and laid down with him, snuggling close to him poking him until he hugged her. It felt much safer now. The thunder didn't scare her either. Those monsters had nothing on Marco, he was ever the invincible big brother in her eyes.

"You're warm, big brother." She muttered and he ruffled her hair. "Go to sleep already, oy." And she did.

The next morning Marco left his quarters quietly so as to not wake up the little girl who was cranky in the morning. The moment he closed his door behind he went up on deck, looking around for Thatch. The Fourth Division Commander was flirting with one of the nurses as Marco stomped over.

"Morning, Marco." Thatch managed to greet before the First Division Commander grabbed him by his collar and threw him overboard. "Don't go around telling Mirim there are monsters under her bed again, you hear me, oy?!" The blonde yelled before stomping off, leaving a very confused Thatch in the water and confused crewmates to stare after him.

Who knew he was that protective of the little brat?


End file.
